The Ghost of Konoha
by RyMalice
Summary: A discovery when just a child sets Naruto on a new path, one where his abilities are far more than anyone could imagine, and no longer limited to the beast within him. Where will this new path take him? Find out inside...
1. A Dark and Stormy Night

I don't own anything but the plot. Though that was influenced by many different things and people. Kenchi618 was a big inspiration for me to get back into writing. If you haven't checked out his stories, I highly recommend you do so. That being said, on with the chaos!

**Chapter One - A Dark and Stormy Night**

* * *

It was a dark and rainy night that we find a small child stumbling through the forest, seeking shelter from the storm. This child was no more than five years old, but he was all alone this dreary night as he had been forced from his home by angry villagers and chased out of the village for the only crime of being alive when their loved ones were not. For this night was the fifth anniversary of the defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Fox. And this child was none other than the young Uzumaki Naruto, the being that contained the Kyuubi after it's defeat, however that little bit of information was kept from the child, as well as anyone that didn't already know thanks to a law passed by the Hokage.

Young Naruto stumbled through the underbrush, his only thought at the moment was trying to find someplace dry and warm to take shelter in until the storm passed, and he could head back to the village. It was a vain hope that things would get better, but it was the only hope he had. As he wiped the water from his eyes, he spotted what looked to be a cave in the side of a nearby hill and he made his way there as quickly as his trembling limbs could take him. By the time he reached the cave entrance, Naruto was shivering badly and was barely able to make it inside before collapsing to the ground. He curled into a ball and tried to stay warm as much as possible.

After a few minutes, Naruto crawled further into the cave and started looking around for anything to help warm himself up. However, as he crawled along the ground, he felt it shift under him, and before he could do anything, he fell through a hole that appeared beneath him as the ground shifted around him. Naruto let out a scream as he tumbled through the air before landing hard on his back. Dazed and breathless from the fall, Naruto just laid there for a few minutes before slowly making his way to his feet.

He groaned in pain and leaned against the rough rock wall that he had fallen down as he strained his eyes to try and see anything. However, it was pitch black around him, with no light to be found anywhere. However, Naruto felt a faint feeling of warmth from the general area in front of him, so with nothing else to go on, he carefully made his way forward, one hand on the wall and the other stretched out in front of him.

After what seemed like an eternity to the young boy, following a faint feeling of warmth in a pitch-black cave, Naruto started to notice a faint light filtering through the darkness. He mindlessly made his way towards the light, vaguely aware that the warmth he was seeking was coming from the same direction. After a long while, Naruto entered another chamber and had to blink as the light grew noticeably brighter, though that didn't help him see the sudden downward slope in the ground and he slipped in the dirt and tumbled down the slope.

When Naruto finally came to a stop, he barely had the energy to look around him, though what he saw took his breath away and gave him a surge of energy. All around him were glowing blue shards of crystals jutting from the ground and walls. The floor of the cavern was covered with broken shards of the crystals and Naruto vaguely noticed that he had cut his hands and arms on some of those shards. Looking around in shock, Naruto noticed off to one side of the cavern was a particularly large and bright crystal, easily as tall as he was. He also noticed as he crawled closer that this particular crystal was also radiating a soothing warmth that helped to chase away the bone deep cold he had been feeling, as well as the feelings of despair and hopelessness. He found himself curling into a ball beneath it and he slowly closed his eyes before finally slipping into a deep sleep.

Naruto never noticed that the cuts on his body glowed briefly with a blue light before closing and quickly healing. His body glowed briefly again with a bluish aura while some of the smaller crystals around him stopped glowing completely before the light faded away into his skin, briefly outlining his muscles. Wisps of energy flickered in the air around Naruto as his breathing slowed and his body stopped shivering. As he slept, Naruto never could imagine the profound changes that were occurring in his young body.

Several hours later, Naruto slowly woke up, feeling far more refreshed than he should have considering where he had fallen asleep. As he looked around, he was shocked to find that he could see quite clearly, as if it were much brighter than it really was. He stood up and made his way to the wall of the cavern, only then noticing that it was much smoother than it should be, and there were drawings and weird markings on the wall. However, the young boy had no idea what they meant, and he looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

Naruto saw the tracks he had made coming into the cavern and followed them up the slope and into the other cavern. He stopped a few feet into the other chambers of the cavern as the light faded away, and though he could still make some things out, Naruto couldn't see anything clearly anymore. So, he explored by hand for a while before making his way back to the crystal cavern in defeat.

However, now that he was warmer and able to concentrate, Naruto's normal energy was back and he started exploring the crystal cavern with gusto. The crystals were largely centered around the enormous crystal that was stuck in the wall, but there were some other large ones further down the cavern, though not nearly as big. But the cavern eventually ended in another wall with more drawings on it, so Naruto made his way back and sat down under the same crystal he had slept under the night before.

As he sat and thought about his situation, he idly picked at the ground with his fingers, tracing the outline of something under the dirt next to him. After a few minutes, he looked over and noticed that he had been slowly uncovering another crystal, though this one was loose. After another fifteen minutes, he was able to pry it out from the ground. Naruto held it up in front of him and noticed that it emitted a faint glow.

With a surge of energy, Naruto scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the cavern, holding the crystal in front of him to light the way. Sure enough, he was able to see much better now that he had a source of light. He looked around for a few minutes before heading back. He looked around and saw a few smaller crystals that he could carry poking out of the wall and went to work freeing them from the dirt and rocks.

A little while later, Naruto had several glowing crystals, most the size of his young hands, and he stuffed them into his pockets, keeping two out to hold in his hands. With far more energy and optimism than before, Naruto quickly made his way back through the tunnels, carefully following his tracks in the dirt until he came to the spot where he fell. Naruto carefully put his crystals away and noticed that he could see some light from up above.

He scrambled up the rock wall, but he wasn't being careful, and he found himself sliding back down. With tears of frustration in his eyes, Naruto grit his teeth and tried again, being more careful where he grabbed this time. This time he made it all the way up and he rolled away from the hole and laid there for a minute to catch his breath. As daylight slowly crept across his face, Naruto grinned with happiness and stood up before rushing out of the cave and just standing in the light of day.

He was about to rush off back to the village, but Naruto had a sudden thought that he might want to come back here someday, so he looked around and found a good spot on the wall. He brought out one of his crystals and wrote as neatly as a five-year-old could, 'Naruto was here.' He didn't realize it at the time, but the crystal was able to mark the wall very easily, far better than a normal crystal should have.

Having marked the entrance to the caves, Naruto sped off into the forest, unconsciously knowing exactly where to go. Trees and roots that he blindly stumbled into the previous night he now avoided automatically. Within an hour, he was back at the village walls and approaching one of the entrance gates.

"Halt! State your business," said one of the chunnin manning the gate as he saw Naruto approaching. When he got a closer look at the dirty and scraped up Naruto, his expression turned into a sneer. "Oh, it's you. I thought they got rid of you last night, demon brat."

The other chunnin suddenly stiffened as he saw a person suddenly appear behind his partner. "Uh… Choy… I don't think," he started to say before the new arrival turned to him, showing a porcelain mask with the depiction of a dog's face on it.

"Shut it, Tanaka, I think it's time we rid the village of this creature once and for all," Choy growled out in anger. "After all, it's just you and me here, no one else will know."

Naruto backed up in fear as he could literally feel this man's anger, hatred, and pain. It nearly overwhelmed his young mind. He could barely stand in the face of those negative emotions, all directed at him. However, those emotions vanished as the ANBU grabbed Choy's shoulder firmly.

"I disagree," said the ANBU softly but firmly. With a negligent flick of his wrist, the ANBU sent the chunnin flying through the air, crashing against the wall. He turned at looked at Tanaka. "Detain him until I come back. He has several questions to answer to Ibiki." Ignoring the suddenly pale face of the gate guard, the ANBU knelt down next to the shaking Naruto.

"It's ok. I'm going to take you to the hospital now, Naruto," he told the boy gently. When Naruto stiffened slightly, the ANBU noticed. "What is it?"

"I…can't go there…they said they'd kill me if I ever showed up…" Naruto muttered softly.

The ANBU had to take several deep breaths before replying. "Don't worry, Naruto. I won't leave your side and I'll make sure they take good care of you," he told the boy.

"You shouldn't have to," Naruto said under his breath, though the ANBU heard him clearly.

'_The kid's right…._' He thought to himself as he led Naruto through the gate. He turned to look at Tanaka once more, motioning with a tilt of his head towards the unconscious Choy. "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere, or you'll be taking his place."

Tanaka nodded his head furiously and immediately set about securing his partner, not wanting to incur the wrath of an ANBU Captain.

* * *

After taking Naruto to the hospital, Inu, the ANBU, sent a shadow clone to the Hokage, informing him of what had happened. After only a few minutes, the Hokage arrived at the hospital room where Inu was watching Naruto grudgingly let a nurse look over him. The nurse on the other hand looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. But with constant looks at the ANBU that had brought Naruto in, she did her job as she was expected to.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood next to Inu and watched Naruto carefully. "How bad was it?" he asked after several minutes of silence.

Inu paused briefly. "Some villagers came across him after he had been purposely locked out of the orphanage by the Matron. They chased him towards the west gate, and were ignored by all ninja guarding that sector, apparently," Inu said softly but respectfully. "When he ran out the gate, they let him be and so he spent all night and most of the morning lost in the forest. When he made his way back, I overheard one of the ninja assigned to the gate suggest that they finish what the villagers started."

Hiruzen's expression darkened as he listened and thought. He had been kept so busy lately that he hadn't had the time to focus on helping young Naruto, the son of his dear friend and successor. He vowed then and there to change things and to be there to help Naruto, as it was obvious that not many others could see past his burden. The old Hokage looked at Inu thoughtfully and resisted the urge to light his pipe, as he was in a hospital.

"Inu, I will be making some changes regarding young Naruto. I want you to select ANBU that you can trust to look past his burden and see him for what he truly is… a young, innocent boy with no family," Sarutobi told him firmly. "After you have done so, I want you to look into the Matron of the orphanage. If she has done this to one child, there is a chance she has done this to others."

Inu nodded and saluted his leader. "As you command, Hokage-sama," he replied. He started to turn away before stopping and turning back. "Hokage-sama, I would like to be part of Naruto's protective detail as well."

Hiruzen chuckled and a slight smile came to his lips. He nodded to Inu. "I had a feeling you would request that, Kakashi," he said softly. "As long as you don't neglect your other duties, I have no problem with you watching over Naruto as well."

Kakashi twitched slightly at the Hokage using his real name instead of his code name, but that was his leader's right to do so. Though he was very proud of the seals on his mask that helped protect his identity. There weren't very many people with gravity defying silver hair, after all. His mask made it seem that his hair and eyes looked normal to other people. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I'll get right to work."

Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving Sarutobi alone in the hallway. A few moments later, the nurse exited the room and gulped at seeing the Hokage standing there.

"Hokage-sama...I didn't know you were here," she said hesitantly.

Sarutobi looked at her evenly and then turned to look at Naruto, who was sitting on the bed and looking out the window, pouting slightly as he scratched at his cheek. "How is he?"

"He's…perfectly fine, Hokage-sama," she said as she gathered her courage. She also knew that she hadn't done anything wrong, so she should be fine. "I know that Inu-san said that the boy spent the night in the forest with the rain and cold, but besides being dirty, the boy doesn't have anything else wrong with him."

Hiruzen nodded slightly as he looked at Naruto. "Very well, thank you for your fine work. You're free to resume your normal duties," he told her idly. He waited for the nurse to leave before straightening his robes and walking into the room. "Hello, Naruto. I heard you had an interesting evening."

Naruto turned and looked at the Hokage in surprise, though not because he hadn't expected someone to come in, but the opposite. He had felt the Hokage watching him and could feel his emotions, something that he had never been able to do before. He had thought it was his mind playing tricks on him, but when he had heard the door open and then heard the very distinctive voice of the Hokage, he knew that he had gained something unexpected from his adventure.

"Yes, sir," Naruto finally said, looking at the leader of the village suspiciously. He had seen the old man around and certainly knew that he was the leader of the village, but other than that he hadn't had much exposure to him. "I'm sorry for leaving the village, but I didn't got many options."

"Have, Naruto," Hiruzen corrected him with a slight smile. "You didn't have many options. And I'm not here because you're in trouble, quite the opposite in fact."

Naruto looked at him through squinted eyes. "If I aint in trouble, then why you here, old man?" he asked suspiciously.

Sarutobi let out a laugh at Naruto's bluntness. It was rather refreshing considering that most people tended to treat him with extreme respect and flowery words. Deciding not to correct Naruto again, he approached the boy and sat down on the bed next to him. "Do you know who I am, Naruto?" he asked after a minute or so in thought.

Naruto looked at him in confusion. He was still uneasy about his new ability to sense emotions, but it was telling him that the Hokage genuinely cared about him and wasn't lying to him…yet.

"You're the Hokage. You run the village," Naruto told him with a shrug. "The old lady that runs the orphanage said you're the strongest in the whole village." He hesitated but decided to push his luck, seeing as things had been going good for him so far. "She also said that if I ever got in trouble, you'd make me disappear forever. I think she was hoping for that. She doesn't like me."

Hiruzen had to suppress a surge of anger as heard Naruto say that so easily. No child should be that aware or accepting of hatred, especially so young. He placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, noticing that the boy tensed up when he did, and turned the boy to face him. Naruto looked up at him, his bright blue eyes shining with innocence and yet they held a deep pain hidden inside.

"Naruto, I promise you, I would never do something like that to you. I'm sorry to say that the Matron lied to you. But I think that it's time to take you out of the orphanage, for your own good I'm afraid. While you are there, I'm afraid that I can't protect you as well as I could if you had your own place," Sarutobi said gently. Naruto perked up with excitement, so Hiruzen continued before Naruto could interrupt him. "Now I want to be clear, Naruto. Living on your own will be very difficult. I'll help you as much as I can, but you will have more responsibilities as you will have to take care of yourself for the most part."

"No different than now," Naruto said with a shrug. "But at least I won't have to go back, right?"

"Yes, Naruto. You don't have to go back there ever if you don't want to," Sarutobi told him with a smile, though it didn't seem real. He didn't expect Naruto to catch that the smile was forced, so he was caught off guard when Naruto looked at him with curiosity.

"You aren't happy, are you, sir? You're smiling but it don't feel real to me, like you're pretending to be happy…for me?" Naruto asked him, his head tilting to the side.

For the first time in a very long time, Hiruzen was caught completely by surprise. "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged and looked away, a little embarrassed. "Don't know how, but since last night…well, I can feel things…from people, ya know? Those ninja at the gate, the nurse, that ANBU guy…you," he said while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"You can feel emotions?" Sarutobi asked in surprise. Such abilities weren't unheard of, but they weren't very common either. "And you say this only started last night?" Getting a nod from Naruto, Sarutobi really wished he had his pipe at the moment. It was possible that the heightened emotions from the previous evening, combined with the boy's burden, could have provoked a change in his abilities, given him something to help him identify and deal with those that sought him harm.

"Hokage-jiji?" Naruto said hesitantly after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm? Oh, my apologies, Naruto, I was simply thinking about what you told me. Such abilities have been documented before, but as far as I know, none have been seen in your lineage before," Sarutobi told him. He immediately knew he had made a slight mistake in his wording when he saw Naruto perk up.

"You knew my parents?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Sarutobi groaned internally at the situation he had put himself in, especially since he now knew that Naruto could feel if he was lying. "That is a difficult question, Naruto, with no easy answers," he told the boy. He looked out the window, rubbing his chin in thought. Finally, he turned back to Naruto. "I won't lie to you, Naruto. Yes, I knew your parents, however," he said as he held up a hand to stop the questions he saw forming in Naruto's mind, "for various reasons I can't tell you anything about them right now."

"Why not?" Naruto asked, tears forming in his eyes from disappointment.

"Your parents were both ninjas, and they made enemies during their careers. For your safety, no one has been told anything about your parents, though there are some that already know the truth," Sarutobi told Naruto sadly. When he looked into the tear-filled eyes of the boy in front of him, Sarutobi sighed in defeat. "When you graduate from the Academy, I will tell you about your mother. That's all I can promise you now."

Naruto could feel that there was more that the Hokage wasn't telling him, but at the same time, he could feel how honest he was being with him. Naruto looked down at his hands, thinking about what he had been told. For some reason, his mind felt clearer than before. As if yesterday he had been thinking through a fog, and now that fog was gone. Just like with his body.

"Ok," he told the Hokage confidently. "I'll be the best ninja ever, and when I graduate, you'll tell me about my mom? What about my dad?"

Sarutobi chuckled and ruffled Naruto's hair. "When the time comes, you'll find out all about him."

Naruto nodded and smiled at Sarutobi before jumping off the bed eagerly. "So, let's get started! When can I start at the Academy?" he asked eagerly.

Sarutobi laughed as he stood up as well. "You won't be able to start at the Academy for a while, Naruto," he told the boy, ignoring Naruto's pout as he led the boy out of the room. As they walked, a sudden thought came to him. "Naruto, you might not be able to start at the Academy, but there might be someone that can help you with your abilities. I'll have to talk to them first, but would you want…"

"Yes! Of course!" Naruto shouted in excitement. He then realized that he had interrupted the Hokage and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Sarutobi simply smiled and led the excited boy to the Hokage's Tower, where hopefully they could find a decent place for Naruto to stay.

* * *

Ok, so this is my first fanfic in a very long time. I've even created a new penname for myself. To those that can figure out where I'm getting my inspiration from, grats to you. If you guess correctly, I may give you a sneak peek into what I have planned for this story.

Please read and review. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. As I said, I haven't written in a very long time…as in years.


	2. Training Begins

**Thanks for the interest in my story. Glad to see so many people like it. There will be some more author notes at the bottom, but on with the story. Oh, and I don't own anything, just borrowing.**

* * *

Naruto yawned and stretched as he woke up, blinking his eyes as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He looked around, not recognizing where he was at first before his eyes snapped open as he remembered that he was at his new home.

He smiled widely as he got out of bed, throwing the covers off as he rushed to the bathroom. He still couldn't believe that he had his own place to live. This was his room, his bathroom, and his apartment! He didn't have to share or be forced to listen to some mean old lady that hated him. He could stay up as late as he wanted, and he could eat whatever he wanted as well.

Naruto quickly went through his normal morning routine and dashed out his front door. However, he just as quickly ran back to lock up. It had been a month since he had been given his apartment by the Hokage and it had taken a solid week of stern reminders from several ANBU and the Hokage himself before he started to remember to lock his apartment when he left.

After locking up, Naruto dashed off again and ran towards the Hokage's Tower. The old man had told Naruto to meet him there first thing that day as he wanted Naruto to meet someone that could help him, or so Hiruzen had claimed.

Naruto couldn't keep the smile off his face as he ran through the village, though it certainly dimmed as he couldn't help picking up the emotions of the people he passed as he ran. The feelings of anger and hatred directed at him was something he was still getting used to. He didn't know why they hated him, but he could feel it clearly, especially as he saw the villagers glaring at him, some even spitting at him as he ran by.

As much as Naruto wanted to stop and yell at them or something, to give them an actual reason to curse him, the Hokage was waiting for him and he didn't want the old man to be disappointed in him so soon. As Naruto rushed around a corner near the tower, he nearly ran right into the Hokage, barely skidding to a stop in time.

"Sorry, Hokage-jiji, I didn't see you," Naruto said breathlessly, having sprinted all the way there.

"Perfectly alright, Naruto," Hiruzen said with a chuckle. "Though you might want to be more careful in the future."

Naruto laughed and grinned at the Hokage while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Being next to the calming presence of the Hokage made it easier for Naruto to forget about all the earlier hatred that he had felt.

"So where are we going, Hokage-jiji?" Naruto asked excitedly. All that the wise old leader of the village had told him was that he had a surprise for him.

"Patience, Naruto. I know you're excited, but one thing you have to learn if you want to be a ninja is patience," Hiruzen told Naruto with a fond smile. When he saw Naruto pout and look away, Hiruzen ruffled his hair. "Come, there's someone I want to introduce you to."

With that, Sarutobi led Naruto towards a section of the village that Naruto had never been in before. It was very well maintained and had a lot of businesses, which he tended to avoid so that he wouldn't get hurt by the villagers. So, it was with a sense of wonder that Naruto followed Sarutobi around the village towards one of the areas set aside for certain Clans of the village.

As they stopped in front of a store, Naruto looked around eagerly, though he frowned when he saw they stopped at a flower shop.

"Why are we here? You didn't say nothing about no flowers," Naruto said with a frown.

'_I'll need to spend some time helping him with speaking properly_,' Hiruzen thought to himself with a slight frown. "No, Naruto, this is where we need to go. The man that owns this store is the one I wanted you to meet," he said as he opened the door.

"I thought I was gonna learn somethin' cool…not how to arrange flowers," Naruto grumbled as he entered the store. Hiruzen let out a small laugh at that as he followed Naruto in.

"Well, I could always teach you that instead of what Hokage-sama wanted me to help you with," said an amused voice from behind the counter. Naruto looked up and saw a middle-aged man with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail while still having spiky hair on top as well. He also had a Konoha hitai-ate on his forehead.

"You're a ninja too?" Naruto asked in shock. The two grown men let out laughs at Naruto's expression of shock.

"Ninjas need hobbies too, you know. Plus, it's been a family tradition since the village was founded," Inoichi told the boy with another laugh. He then looked to the Hokage. "You sure about this, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen simply smiled and nodded. "Naruto here is full of surprises lately. Don't underestimate him, Inoichi-san."

Inoichi nodded respectfully, but when he looked back at Naruto, he couldn't help but feel some doubts. So, when Naruto turned to him as well with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, I can feel that! Stop doubting the old man!" Naruto nearly shouted as Inoichi was pretty much shouting to Naruto's senses about his doubts for the boy.

Inoichi's eyebrows about jumped off his face and he turned to the Hokage in shock. Hiruzen simply shrugged and smiled. "I told you he had gifts similar to yours," the Hokage told Inoichi smugly.

"So you did," Inoichi replied with a chastened look. He turned back to the glaring Naruto with a smile. "I guess I owe you an apology, Naruto. I think you and my daughter will get along just fine," he said with a grin.

As if summoned by him saying her name, Yamanaka Ino came skipping into the room from the back. "Daddy! I'm bored, can I go play outside?" When she saw Naruto, a smile that brightened the room came to her lips. "Hi! I'm Ino, wanna play?" Without waiting, Ino grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him outside with her to play.

The two grown men left in the room looked at each other in amused shock at the proverbial dust cloud left in the two children's wake. Inoichi turned to the Hokage. "Well…seems he's been taken out of my hands for now. I suppose if I can ever rescue him from her clutches, I'll see what I can do to help him," he told his leader. However, he noticed a sad look to the Hokage's face.

Seeing Inoichi's look from the corner of his eye, Hiruzen turned to the other man. "Inoichi, it's just such a shame that your daughter will be his first friend… ever," he told the other man sadly.

Inoichi frowned at that statement and had a hard time wrapping his head around that bit of information. He was a parent that loved and, admittedly, spoiled his daughter. He made sure she was happy and part of that was making sure she had friends and spent time with them. To think that Naruto had never had a friend before…it was mind boggling. But considering his burden… Inoichi couldn't say he was surprised as he thought about it.

"Perhaps…I won't be able to rescue him for a while…maybe he'll be kept here through dinner…that would be a right shame," Inoichi said thoughtfully, the vague idea of trying to help the boy entering his mind.

Hiruzen's smile widened at the resolve in the man's face. "Thank you, Inoichi. I'm sure Naruto will be well looked after with you," he said, a hidden meaning in his words. The Council may have blocked others from adopting the boy or looking after him officially, but they couldn't do anything about this situation. With a nod of respect, Hiruzen headed back outside and towards the Tower, stopping only briefly to watch Ino teach Naruto how to play some game.

XxXxXxX

Naruto quickly fell into a routine. Most days he would spend with the Yamanaka family, playing with Ino and learning from Inoichi. Inoichi was very careful in helping Naruto, but at the same time, their abilities weren't the same, so he was also guessing on how to help the boy. He decided to start by teaching the boy how to meditate…with predictable results.

"Naruto, in order to meditate properly, you need to learn to still your mind and body," Inoichi said with a tired sigh. They had been stuck on this for over a week at this point, with little success. Naruto wasn't stupid, far from it. However, he was also a young child with way too much energy, as well as an unlimited source of chakra stuck in his belly, which didn't help at all with this.

"I know! But it's so boring," Naruto said with a whine. "Can't we do something more fun?"

Inoichi sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Naruto, you have a rare gift," he told the boy, causing him to grin with pride. "However, that gift is useless if you don't learn to control it properly. You could become one of the best sensor ninjas in the whole Elemental Nations, but not without discipline and self-control. Meditation may be boring, and seem utterly useless, but I promise you that it will help make you a stronger ninja."

Naruto just sighed in boredom, barely listening to Inoichi, something that annoyed the older man. His attention started wavering quickly and he yelped in pain as Inoichi pinched his cheek when he caught him staring out the window. "Are you listening to me?" Inoichi said firmly. When Naruto gave him a hurt look as he rubbed his sore cheek, Inoichi sighed and tired a different tactic.

"Naruto, you promised the Hokage that you would become the best ninja ever, right?" Inoichi asked him seriously.

"You bet! I'm gonna be the bestest ever!" Naruto yelled out with a burst of energy.

"Well, how can you be the 'bestest' if you don't learn this simple technique? You aren't going back on your word so quickly… are you?" Inoichi asked him innocently, seeing the boy fall into his trap. He had to suppress the urge to cackle in glee. He'd do that later when Ino finally got bored and came in to steal Naruto away to play.

"Uh, well, that is…" Naruto stuttered as his nearly six-year-old mind tried to figure a way out of this. "Shit."

Inoichi paused in his mental celebrations when he heard Naruto swear. "Naruto! Where did you hear that word?"

Naruto looked up at Inoichi with a confused look. "Huh? Oh, my neighbor says it all the time. Wanna hear what else he says?" he asked excitedly.

Inoichi held out his hands to stop the boy from carrying on. "That's alright, Naruto. I think I'll go talk to him myself later. In the meantime, why don't you try this again?" the older blonde man said with a grimace.

With a pout and a loud sigh, Naruto sat back down and continued to try to meditate.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto held true to his word and started to make slow progress with his meditation, though Inoichi felt like tearing his hair out at times and eventually started looking forward to when Ino would come to get Naruto to play with her, just so that he could meditate to center himself from dealing with the stubborn and energetic boy.

He couldn't teach the boy every day, having Clan responsibilities as well as needing to run his shop, not to mention those rare missions that he still got sent on. On days that Inoichi couldn't watch over him, Naruto spent them around town. Unfortunately, that usually led to trouble in one form or another. So, the ANBU that were assigned to watch over him started to try and help him themselves, though indirectly. Inu, also known as Kakashi, left a scroll on famous Ninja for Naruto to find, while another ANBU, a young woman named Yugao, with a Neko mask, left some practice kunai and shuriken for him to find.

However, one of the biggest impacts in Naruto's young life, besides his discovery of the crystal cavern, was caused by someone completely outside his circle of protection. While Naruto was trying to avoid some angry villagers that he had bumped into on accident, he instead charged headfirst into another person, knocking both sides down. It didn't help the other person that Naruto had been in the middle of leaping through the air from a fence he had just climbed over.

"Owwie," Naruto muttered in pain as he rubbed his head.

"Holy hell, kid. That freaking hurt," said the other man as he sat up, also rubbing his head in pain. When he looked at Naruto, the other man's eyes widened in shock. "You!"

Naruto winced, this time from the sudden spike in emotion he felt from the man he ran into. He fully expected to get a wave of anger and loathing directed at him, but instead he was shocked when all he felt was… amusement?

"Uh… sorry 'bout that," Naruto said sheepishly, hoping that maybe he could get away without any serious injuries.

"Accidents happen, kid," the other man said with a slight grin, though that quickly faded. He knew who this boy was, and what he contained, but what really mattered at the moment was why the boy had been running so fast that he hadn't seen him coming, and also why the boy was scuffed up and bruised in some places around his face and arms. "You ok, kid?"

Naruto started to nod, but he felt an incoming wave of anger from the direction he had been running from, and he jumped to his feet and out of the way just as one of the villagers he had run into came around the corner and saw him.

"There's the brat! Come on," the man shouted, drawing the attention of two other men.

Naruto cringed and looked around for an escape, but the incoming men cut off his escape routes. He was starting to panic from the situation when suddenly a hand gripped his shoulder calmly, causing him to look up at the man he had run into.

"I take it they aren't friends of yours?" the man asked with a smile. Naruto took a moment to study the man as he gently pushed Naruto to stand behind him, shielding him with his body.

The man was of average height, with dark unkempt hair that was being held back by a Konoha forehead protector. He had some mild stress lines around his coal black eyes that sparkled with amusement. He wore a dark short sleeved shirt with an upturned collar, with the handle of a tanto being held in place behind his right shoulder by a leather harness that crossed his chest and went under his right arm. All in all, Naruto only knew that this man was a ninja, but not much else, though he could only hope he was on his side.

"Can I help you with something?" the man asked mildly as the three men stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, you can move so that we can teach that… beast a lesson," the obvious leader of the small group replied, pausing only long enough to change his wording so that he didn't break the secrecy law about Naruto's burden.

"And what has the child done to warrant such a lesson?" the man asked curiously, not moving away in the slightest.

"The brat ran into us. He needs to pay," one of the other men growled out.

"Hmm. And did he apologize?"

"Yes," Naruto almost shouted in response.

However, he was drowned out by the other men's responses of "No, he didn't."

"Hmm, well then, I see a simple solution," the man turned to Naruto with a serious expression, though for some reason Naruto could sense that he was laughing inside. "Naruto, say you're sorry to these men."

"What? I aint gonna apologize again!" Naruto shouted back at him. However, when the man frowned at him, with his emotions getting darker as well, Naruto winced and sighed. He looked at the other men. "I'm sorry that I ran into you." He gave them a slight bow, just as Inoichi had shown him during one of their many lessons on manners that had happened after his slip of the tongue before.

The mysterious ninja turned back to the men with a happy expression. "Well, there you go. Lesson learned, apologies given, we all go home happy," he told them all.

"That aint gonna cut it, pretty boy. Now hand over the brat so that we can teach him our own lesson on manners," the ringleader growled in anger.

The ninja stared at the man. "I suggest you take your friends and go," he advised him evenly. Naruto felt a sudden spike in annoyance from the man, along with a flare of power. The other men stiffened in shock and backed up slowly.

"Yeah, yeah… you got it," they all stuttered before turning and running away.

The ninja turned back to Naruto, just as his eyes faded from red to black. "Sorry about that, Naruto-chan, but some fights are best won without a single blow," he told the boy with a smile, his emotions back to normal.

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked him excitedly. He had never seen someone make the villagers run off so fast without a single threat or anything that even looked dangerous. The man in front of him hadn't even raised his voice and yet three grown men had run from him.

"My Clan has a certain reputation, Naruto-chan," the man told him evasively, causing the boy to grimace.

"Can you not call me that? I'm just Naruto, ok?" the young boy said with a pout. He got enough of Ino calling him that, despite him asking her not to repeatedly.

"My apologies, Naruto. My name is Uchiha Shisui," Shisui told him with a small bow. "Come on, I'll buy you some lunch as an apology for running into you."

With the prospect of free food, Naruto conveniently forgot that he had been the one that had run into Shisui, not the other way around. Shisui led the young boy through the village, his presence enough of a deterrent that they were left alone, as they headed to a small ramen stand that had opened only a few months earlier.

As they ate, Shisui watched the boy as he gently asked him questions about himself, Naruto answering around mouthfuls of noodles as he quickly devoured the food he had been given. That day, thanks to the kindness of Shisui, Naruto found his favorite food of all time.

Over the next few months, Shisui kept finding reasons to be around Naruto when he wasn't being taught by Inoichi. He wouldn't do anything unusual; he would simply spend time with the boy, talk to him, buy him lunch, and generally just be there for the boy. However, this behavior was enough of a reason for a certain ANBU to take notice.

One day, after leaving Naruto behind at the ramen stand that was becoming his favorite spot to have lunch, Shisui was pulled into a dark alley with a kunai held to his throat.

"Careful, Inu-san," Shisui said smoothly, motioning with his head for the other man to look down to where he held his own kunai against the inside of his leg, right where a major artery was located.

"Why you never tried to join ANBU, I'll never know," Kakashi said softly as he slowly removed his kunai, Shisui doing the same.

"It isn't my place," Shisui said simply as Kakashi moved back a step. "Now, why did you try to jump me like that, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked around before pointing up at the roofs before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. However, when he reappeared on the roof, he found Shisui already there waiting for him. "_Shunshin no Shisui_, you certainly live up to the moniker."

"Cut the crap, Kakashi-san. What do you want?" Shisui said simply, ignoring the comment.

"What is your angle with the kid?" Kakashi asked after a few moments of thought.

"I don't know what you mean," Shisui said simply.

"Out of nowhere, you started spending a lot of time around Naruto, but I can't figure out why. What is your angle? You Uchiha usually have a reason," Kakashi told him bluntly.

Shisui sighed and leaned against a nearby railing. He had figured that one day someone would notice, but not quite so fast, though he should have known better. "I don't have an angle, not in the common sense, Kakashi-san. I literally ran into the kid and he impressed me, so I figured I'd look out for the boy when I could."

"I have a hard time believing that," Kakashi said with a scoff. "Come on, do you really expect me to believe that you are just trying to be nice to him? We all know what's inside of him, and I know your Clan has a special attachment to the beast."

Shisui glared at the masked man. "You don't know anything, Kakashi-san. Only one man has ever controlled the Kyuubi, and he's long dead."

Kakashi sighed at the predictable denial. "I can't stop you from being around the kid, to even try would tip Naruto off that there's something going on…"

"If you think you haven't been noticed by him, you are sorely mistaken," Shisui said with a chuckle, stopping Kakashi in his tracks.

"Huh?" Kakashi replied intelligently.

"You do know that the kid is a sensor, right? Or at least on his way to becoming one?" Shisui asked idly. "Come on, you must know at least that much right? Well, if he can sense hostile villagers coming from a good distance, then I'm sure he can sense you watching him as well."

Kakashi was surprised that he was surprised. He hadn't thought that Shisui would put things together so quickly, though he should have. Kakashi looked away in thought. "I know. I just didn't think he was that good yet."

"He doesn't know specifics, but he knows something's up. He's a smart kid," Shisui said with a shrug.

"So, now what?" Kakashi said after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, I for one am going to go home and get some sleep. I don't know about you, but this has been a long day," Shisui replied with a smirk. As he walked away though, he heard Kakashi's parting comment.

"If you decide that you want a place in ANBU, just know that there will always be a spot for you," Kakashi said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Shisui looked back at where Kakashi had previously stood, a slightly sad look to his eyes. "Not sure what good that would be with how things are going," he said to himself softly.

XxXxXxX

Naruto looked over at his bedside table, where he had put the crystals he had found so long ago. He had noticed that over the last few months, they had gotten dimmer. He assumed that it was just a natural process of the light finally fading away, though he had no idea that every night when he slept at home, he was slowly absorbing the energy from within the crystals.

It had taken a long time for him to unconsciously drain the crystals of power, but now that they had fully faded, Naruto kind of missed the soft blue light that he had gotten used to. So, after finally ditching his minders, Naruto snuck outside the village and headed to the caves to get some more crystals.

Naruto made his way through the forest, his memories crystal clear as he thought back to his trip back from the caves. He moved through the trees a lot easier than before and he made good time. As he approached the caves, he laughed to himself softly when he saw the scratches he made on the wall before. He brushed them with his hand as he passed by.

A quick drop down the hole and Naruto was heading back through the tunnels. He smiled widely as he saw a familiar glow. He stopped in front of the giant crystal that he had slept under before and sat down. There was just something about this crystal in particular that drew his attention. He stared into its depths, entranced by wisps of blue energy that he saw inside it. He unconsciously slipped into a meditative trance as he stared at the crystal.

Eventually, Naruto came back to his senses and climbed to his feet, feeling oddly refreshed. He found a few more crystals and grabbed them before heading back. As he stepped out of the cave, he noticed, with a quick look at the sky, that it had gotten a lot later than he had planned to be out. So, with another look back at the cave, Naruto headed back to the village.

When Naruto got back, he slipped by the gate and made his way home. However, he wasn't expecting to see a very worried Shisui coming from the direction of his apartment.

"Shisui! What are you doing around here?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Naruto! Where have you been?" Shisui replied as he hurried over to Naruto, physically pulling him closer to him so that he could check him over with a concerned eye. "Do you know how worried we all were?"

"Huh? But I was…" Naruto started to say before getting cut off.

"You've been gone for three days! The Hokage was about to form a search party to find you," Shisui snapped at the young boy.

Naruto looked at Shisui in shock. It had only felt like a few hours to him, yet three days had gone by without him noticing. He shook himself mentally and gave Shisui a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry, Shisui. I'll try not to worry you like that again," Naruto said, hoping to nip this event in the bud.

Shisui took a little longer to cool down, but in the end, he left Naruto alone to head home. Once there, Naruto pulled out his new crystals and placed them near his bed next to the older crystals that had no glow. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked at his collection in thought. Something unusual had happened to him, and the crystals seemed to be the only link he had. This would need more study and thought.

Naruto grinned in excitement.

XxXxXxX

All this helped keep Naruto safe, occupied, and watched over until he was eight years old and was finally allowed into the Academy. Shisui had become something of an older brother to Naruto, helping him deal with living alone, and generally just being there for the boy. He had also started helping Naruto with his taijutsu in preparation for entering the Academy. It was him that had noticed when Naruto's training and natural abilities paid off when his abilities evolved further.

Naruto and Shisui were at the park, celebrating Naruto's entrance into the Academy with ice cream, when Naruto turned to look up at Shisui.

"Shisui? What's a coup d'état?" he asked suddenly.

Shisui almost choked on his ice cream in surprise. He had just been thinking about the rising tension in the village, mainly between his Clan and the rest of the village and the fact that it was looking like his family was going to try to attempt a coup d'état to try and take control of the village. But he was 100% certain that he hadn't said anything about that to Naruto.

"Where did you hear that phrase?" he finally asked Naruto after clearing his throat.

"I don't know. I thought I heard you say something about it, but I was looking at you and you were busy with your ice cream, so maybe someone else said it. What is it?" Naruto asked curiously, taking a bite of ice cream as he waited.

Shisui looked around, but there was no one close enough for Naruto to have overheard anything from anyone like that. He took another bite of ice cream to buy time to think, however that didn't help him that much when Naruto suddenly adopted a put-out expression.

"Hey, I'm not too young to know…though I don't know what you think I'm too young to know about. Is it a type of alcohol? Like what Inu-san likes to drink?" Naruto guessed curiously.

Shisui was floored at this point. His eyes flared red as he activated his Sharingan. However, he didn't see any signs of chakra use from Naruto, which if he had been using one of the Yamanaka techniques to read his mind would have shown some traces. So, if it wasn't a jutsu, what was it?

"Naruto…I didn't say anything, yet you responded to my thoughts as if I did," Shisui told the boy slowly, his thoughts flying.

Naruto seemed to think about that before brightening up considerably. "You mean I can read minds? Awesome!"

Shisui nodded numbly, as Naruto was sufficiently distracted from his original question by his new ability. He listened absently as Naruto chatted about his new cool technique, using every trick he knew to keep his mind shielded so that Naruto didn't pick up his panic. He somehow made it through the rest of the afternoon before sending Naruto on to his lessons with Inoichi. However, his next stop was the Hokage Tower. He needed to report this development to the Hokage as soon as possible.

XxXxXxX

Naruto rushed into the Yamanaka Flowers shop, startling Inoichi as he was putting a pot of flowers up on the counter, causing him to nearly drop the pot. Naruto grinned at the older blonde.

"Hey, Inoichi-san! Guess what I can do now!"

* * *

**As you can see, things are progressing. Next chapter will have Naruto entering the Academy and then there will probably be a time skip or two, with some highlights of his life.**

**In response to a couple reviews, just because I labeled this story as I did, doesn't mean that Naruto will end up with either Ino or Anko, as of now they will simply play big roles in his life. I haven't decided on a pairing for this story yet, so if you'd like to vote for your favorite, go for it. **

**Also, if you have any ideas or thoughts on how I could improve my story, feel free to share your ideas and votes. Not much is set in stone for this story, so I may or may not use any interesting ideas I hear.**


	3. Academy Drama

**Welcome to another chapter. Once again, I own nothing but the plot. Things are about to start getting interesting, and more of Naruto's abilities are starting to manifest in small ways. Try to keep your eyes open for those hints at what is to come. This chapter also introduces an OC I created as well as something that I have only seen once in a Naruto fanfic, and that was in a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover ages ago.**

**At the point, this story has 215 followers, 133 favorites, and 25 reviews. Thank you all for your support. Hope you all like it.**

* * *

Naruto couldn't get the grin off his face as he walked onto the ground of the Academy. It was the first day of his ninja career and he was practically bouncing with excitement. He was dressed in black pants and a white t-shirt with a black spiral on it, and he was wearing ninja sandals. As he entered the Academy, he saw a very familiar girl wearing a purple dress over with two other boys. He quickly made his way over to them.

"Hey Ino. Shika, Choji, long time no see," the eight-year-old nearly shouted.

Ino face palmed as she turned to face Naruto. "No need to shout, you baka," she shouted back at him.

Shikamaru and Choji both shared an amused look at Ino's hypocrisy before turning to look at Naruto. They had all met before through being friends with Ino. "Hey, Naruto," Choji said as he munched on some chips. Shikamaru just muttered 'Troublesome blonde' under his breath.

"Which one?" Naruto asked with a grin, which caused Ino to stop and glare at Shikamaru.

"Both?" Shikamaru said with a shrug before heading inside as the bell announcing classes starting soon rang.

Naruto and Ino shared a look of their own with eye rolls before following him, Choji bringing up the rear as he finished his chips. They all headed into their class and sat in the middle of the room, Ino paired with Naruto, and Choji paired up with Shikamaru. There were only a few other kids in the class already, but none that they recognized, which meant that they were probably from civilian families hoping that they would make it as ninja.

As the classroom filled up, Naruto waved to the few kids that he had met through knowing the Yamanaka family. When he heard a gasp from Ino, he looked at her in surprise. "You ok, Ino-chan?" he asked innocently, knowing that she wasn't a fan of that nickname.

Ino barely heard him and disregarded the nickname absently as she stared at the boy that just entered the room as he walked towards an empty seat near the back.

"Do you see him? He's gorgeous," she said breathlessly.

Naruto followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at Sasuke, one of Shisui's cousins. He had met the other kid once or twice but didn't know too much about him. "Huh? Sasuke? What are you talking about?" Naruto said in a bewildered tone.

Ino turned and glared at him briefly before turning back to gaze at Sasuke. "He's so dreamy. Look at how mysterious he looks."

Naruto gave her an odd look, but his next comment was cut off by the teacher coming into the room. The chatter from the students died down as the teacher called for silence.

"Welcome to the first day of your lives as ninja. I am Sensei Yanshi. At the start of every class I will call out attendance and then we will start the lessons for the day," the middle-aged ninja said tonelessly, as if he had said it a thousand times. As he called out his list of names, the students raised their hands as he called on them. When he finally stopped calling out names, he turned to the blackboard and started writing, ignoring Naruto, who had his hand raised.

When Yanshi turned around to start his lesson, he scanned the room, smirking slightly as he saw Naruto with his hand still up. "What?" he said harshly, surprising the students with the venom in his voice.

"Uh, Sensei, you didn't call out my name," Naruto said hesitantly, his empathy picking up dark emotions directed at him.

"Then you aren't supposed to be here," Yanshi said with a smirk. "Get out of my class before I call for the ANBU."

"But I am supposed to be here," Naruto protested in alarm. "The Hokage himself told me he signed me up."

"You dare argue with me?" Yanshi growled as he stormed over to Naruto, who shrank back in his seat at the overwhelming emotions directed at him.

Naruto winced and gulped before staring back at his new teacher. "Yeah, I guess I do." He had been warned that some of the teachers might not be nice, but this was beyond anything he had prepared for. Naruto let out a yelp of pain as Yanshi grabbed his arm and pulled him from his seat.

"Get out of my class, demon brat!" Yanshi growled as he started pulling him towards the door.

Naruto tried to resist, his emotions spiking out of control. As his control slipped, he caught a stray thought from his psycho teacher. "You're lying! You know I'm supposed to be here, but you are trying to get me kicked out. If I don't show up for the first day of class, then I can't attend for a full year!" he shouted as he tried to tug his arm free.

Yanshi paled slightly, not expecting the demon container to know that little rule. However, he simply snarled and opened the door to his class and literally threw the boy out of the classroom. Naruto bounced off the opposite wall and collapsed to the ground in a daze. He vaguely heard the door to the classroom close with a snap and looked up with a look of shock and betrayal. His young mind struggled to understand what was going on.

Naruto sat against the wall for a few minutes in shock before another teacher came across him. It was a newer teacher, judging by his young age, maybe only twenty or so years old. He had a scar across his nose that was very distinctive, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hey there, what are you doing out of class?" the older man said. His eyes widened as he recognized who the boy he was talking to was. The teacher's name was Umino Iruka and his parents had been killed during the attack by the Kyuubi, which left him with very mixed feelings about the young Uzumaki.

"He…he threw me out," Naruto said in response, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked him softly.

"The teacher, he didn't call out my name, and when I asked about that, he got mad and threw me out," Naruto told the older man. He was starting to calm down as he was picking up no serious negative emotions from Iruka. There was some minor emotions directed towards him, but nothing strong either way, positive or negative.

Iruka sat down next to Naruto. He had a feeling about what had happened but felt that he should get the whole story before making any assumptions. "Do you know why he didn't call out your name? You did sign up, didn't you?"

Naruto shot him an annoyed look. "Hokage-jiji signed me up himself. He had me fill out a bunch of forms for ages."

Iruka nearly laughed at the name Naruto had used to describe the Hokage but managed to keep his composure. "Ok, so if that wasn't it, then why…"

"Cause he doesn't want me to be a ninja!" Naruto told him angrily. "If I miss my first day, I have to wait a whole year."

Iruka's eyes widened slightly at the slight outburst. It made a sick sort of sense, though being a newer teacher, he was very familiar with the rules and there had been some recent amendments to the school rules that allowed for exceptions to that particular rule.

"Hmm, that doesn't seem very fair," Iruka said as he thought about Naruto's situation. He wanted to hate the boy, but he didn't seem like the beast that had so ruthlessly killed his parents. Also, he couldn't help but realize that Naruto had lost his parents in the same attack, which made them very similar. Iruka looked down at the boy and made a decision. "Ok, Naruto, I'll go talk to the Hokage and get this sorted out. Why don't you go practice with your shuriken. It's something that you'll need to be good at."

Naruto looked at Iruka with narrowed eyes, trying to actively sense what the other man was thinking, but he wasn't used to his new abilities yet. Inoichi had mostly been helping him with controlling his abilities over the years through meditation and chakra control exercises. It helped him turn them off, so he didn't get overwhelmed, though times of stress made his control slip. He wasn't too used to turning them back on, but he was eventually able to do it. He picked up Iruka's emotions and some thoughts about helping him, so Naruto nodded his head and stood up before slouching and walking away.

Iruka watched the depressed boy walk away before standing up himself and walking down the hall to an office and poking his head in. He waved to a secretary and got her attention.

"Miss Mori, I need to go take care of something," he told a pretty blue haired girl.

She looked up at him and smiled. "It's ok, Umino-san. You won't be needed until afternoon classes anyway."

With that, Iruka smiled back at her and headed out of the building towards the Hokage's tower.

XxXxXxX

Naruto kicked a few loose rocks as he walked down the street. He felt so discouraged at what had happened that morning. His feet absently took him towards a training ground that Shisui had taken him to a few times. However, when he got there, he found that it was currently occupied. There was a man there that was dressed in an ANBU uniform, with a Hawk designed mask on his face.

That alone was startling enough, but what really surprised Naruto was the weapon the ANBU was practicing with. Naruto had seen various ninja practice with all sorts of weapons over the years, but this was the first time he had seen someone using a bow and arrow. There were targets set up in various locations all over the training ground that were riddled with arrows.

Naruto let out a yelp of shock as he suddenly found himself dodging an arrow, diving to the dirt just in time for the arrow to barely miss him. He landed in a roll and kept rolling, just in case more arrows were heading his way. He came to a stop after a few yards and he looked up from the dirt to see the ANBU standing in front of him. He couldn't see his face, but he could feel amusement coming from the man.

"Not bad, kid. You got some good reflexes on you. Though you should know better than to try and sneak up on an ANBU," Hawk said with a chuckle. He placed his bow over a tattoo on his left bicep and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto jumped to his feet, a big smile on his face. "That was so cool! How did you do that?"

Hawk laughed at the eager look on the kid's face. "That? That was just a simple storage seal that I had put on my arm to hold my bow."

"Can you show me again?" Naruto asked with a pleading look.

Hawk laughed again and held his hand over the seal, and with a surge of chakra, his bow was back in his hand. He'd seen the Uzumaki kid around the village a few times, but always from a distance, so this was the first time he'd actually interacted with the hyperactive kid.

"Can I see your sticky thing?" Naruto asked him, his head cocked to the side, eerily like a fox.

"It's called a bow, kid. Ok?" Hawk told Naruto as he held out his weapon to the boy.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he took the bow from the ANBU. "Yeah, yeah. It shoots sticks and is made from a really big stick with a string. Sticky thing works too, you know?" Naruto held the bow curiously and looked it over carefully. He'd seen a samurai's bow in some books before, but this bow wasn't like those bows at all. They were really big, bigger than a person, but this one was much smaller, with a more detailed and pronounced grip that had indentations on both sides.

"Why do you use this thing? Isn't it usually used by Samurai? Why would a ninja use one?" Naruto asked the ANBU as he handed it back to him.

"My dad came from Tetsu no Kuni, and he was trained with it. So, he passed that on to me and I decided to keep up with it in my spare time," Hawk told the boy with a shrug, trying to downplay the situation. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect of making Naruto stop asking questions.

"Why?" Naruto asked the age-old question of the young. "You're pretty good with it, so why not practice with it more?"

Hawk shrugged as he sealed the bow away again. "Because as you said, it's a Samurai weapon, and most ninja would look down on anyone using one. So, I keep it under wraps. Besides, no one else wants to learn to use it for the same reasons. So why advertise that I use it?"

"I wanna learn to use it!" Naruto exclaimed with a pump of his fist. Hawk just looked at the young boy as if he was crazy, though it was hard to tell with the mask on his face. "Come on, teach me, please?"

Hawk rubbed his temple under the mask as he felt a headache coming on. All he wanted was to get a little practice in before heading home, but somehow, he now had the village jinchuriki wanting him to teach him an obscure and rarely used skill.

"You're nuts, kid. Why would you want to learn? No ninja uses a bow anymore," Hawk told him bluntly.

"You do!" Naruto pointed out with a smirk of victory.

Hawk actually stopped as Naruto poked a hole in his argument. "Well I didn't have a choice in the matter. You do. So why bother?"

"Everyone uses kunai and shuriken, so imagine how awesome it'll be to be known as one of the few ninjas that are able to use a bow to fight with," Naruto told him with a grin. "Plus, the range on a bow is what, ten time greater than with a kunai? I'll be untouchable!"

Hawk let out a laugh in surprise. "You'd hardly be 'untouchable', kid."

"Aw, come on! Worst case scenario, I can't shoot the bow straight and we give up. Best case? You go down as being the one that taught the greatest ninja in the world how to use his trademark weapon!" Naruto told him, a gleam of blue energy fliting across his eyes briefly. Though it was hard to tell with his naturally blue eyes.

Hawk sighed as he thought the situation over. As Naruto said, there was no real downside to the situation. And it would be nice to have a sort of legacy beyond the norm. Being known for teaching a very well-known ninja, as Naruto wouldn't be anything less than that, to use such a unique weapon…well that was very appealing. And who knows, maybe it would catch on and others would learn to use the bow again. As it stood, he only knew a handful of other ninja that used the bow for anything more than idle curiosity or show, and none of them lived in Konoha.

"Alright, kid. I'll give you a trial period to impress me. If you do, I'll teach you in my spare time, though don't be surprised if you don't see me for over a month at times. ANBU keeps me very busy. Got it?" Hawk finally told the hopeful boy after a few minutes of thinking.

Naruto let out a cheer and jumped in the air in celebration. "Yatta! You won't regret this, believe it!"

Hawk sighed and shook his head in amusement at what he had gotten himself into. "Alright. Lesson number one. This is the art of kyūjutsu, got it? That's the official name of using a bow and arrow. It takes dedication, practice, and immense patience to master this art. Anyone can become good at it, but in order to master this style, you must be able to use the bow as an extension of your body. No thought, no hesitation, just pure instinct and will."

With that, Hawk pulled out his bow and a single arrow before turning around, knocking the arrow mid-turn, and firing it without hesitation. However, his aim was true, and the arrow nailed the bullseye of a target at the far end of the training ground. To Naruto, his body had been a blur of speed and he had nearly missed what had happened.

"So cool! When will I be able to do that?" he asked excitedly.

"When you're ready," Hawk said with a hidden grin. "Now go home, kid. Come back here tomorrow after class and I'll teach you some more."

Naruto nodded and dashed away, his earlier depression a distant memory.

Hawk just shook his head and wondered what he had gotten himself into as he went around collecting his arrows before heading home.

XxXxXxX

While Naruto was having his little adventure, Iruka was sitting down with the Hokage. He was surprised that it hadn't taken much to get a meeting with the leader of the village. But simply informing the Hokage's secretary that it was about Naruto was enough that he was quickly ushered into the Hokage's office, the doors clicking shut behind him.

"So, what can I do for you, Iruka-san?" Hiruzen said as he idly stuffed some tobacco into his pipe. "I was told this involves young Naruto. What has happened?" He lit his pipe and puffed at it.

Iruka took a moment to compose his thoughts. "Well…it seems that he had a bit of trouble today. Yanshi-sensei declared that his name wasn't on his list and so he threw him out of class…physically. However, Naruto informed me that you were the one that had admitted his entrance paperwork for the Academy…"

Hiruzen inhaled some smoke and let it fill his lungs before blowing it out, trying to let his anger disappear with it. "Indeed, I did. Naruto's paperwork was completed and admitted over two weeks ago. There is no reason that his name should not have been on Yanshi-san's list of students."

"I agree, especially as Naruto told me that he felt that Yanshi-sensei's actions were on purpose to try and delay his entrance into the Academy for another year by forcing him to miss the first day. I'm guessing that Yanshi-sensei didn't pay attention to the recent amendments," Iruka said evenly.

"Indeed, if he had, then he would have known that his idea wouldn't have worked," Sarutobi agreed as he puffed his pipe. He looked at Iruka in thought. "Tell me, Iruka-san. Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked as he stiffened slightly.

"I know of your past, Iruka-san. You should by all rights hold resentment towards Naruto, just like many in this village, yet here you are, trying to help him," the old Hokage said evenly, his eyes not leaving Iruka's.

Iruka looked away, unable to meet his leader's gaze. "I want to hate him, Hokage-sama…but when I saw him on the ground, looking like he was about to cry…I just couldn't help but see myself in him. We're both orphans, sir, and I don't approve of what Yanshi-sensei is trying to do."

"I see." Hiruzen continued to stare at Iruka in thought for several minutes. "Very well. I have made a decision." He waited for Iruka to look back at him. "Yanshi-san is going to find himself reassigned tomorrow. You shall be taking his spot."

"What? My lord, you must be joking," Iruka nearly shouted in shock. "I may not hate the boy, but that doesn't mean I want to teach him either! Just seeing him once brought back memories I've spent a lifetime trying to move past. Please, there must be someone else that can do it."

"My decision is final, Iruka-san. Make the best of it," Hiruzen told him firmly. "You are dismissed."

Iruka nodded numbly and bowed to his leader before turning around stiffly and leaving the office. He was only supposed to be a temporary teacher for a year or two before moving onto something else, but now he was getting saddled with a permanent teaching position. He dreaded hearing what his friend Mizuki was going to have to say about this situation.

So, it was a dejected and newly promoted teacher that left the Hokage's tower.

XxXxXxX

The next day, Iruka found himself standing before Naruto's class, with Naruto back in his seat beside Ino, who he caught staring at the young Uchiha boy a few times. He hoped that her infatuation with the boy wouldn't cause any problems, but he found that unlikely.

"Hello, class. I am Umino Iruka, your new teacher. Unfortunately, Yanshi-sensei was reassigned to another position before you all had the chance to get to know him, but hopefully we will all get along well. Now, please open your textbooks to page 10…" Iruka said as he started his class, going off Yanshi's notes. He'd have to sit down and reevaluate what Yanshi had planned for the class, but in the meantime, he'd make do.

Naruto listened to Iruka carefully, both with his ears and with his mind. After the trouble he had using his gifts the day before, he had decided to work on using them instead of just suppressing them. Though admittedly, his attention was also split as he was looking forward to his lesson with the Hawk ANBU later that day.

Naruto's eyes shifted over to Ino, who he caught staring at Sasuke again. For some reason, he felt a slight twinge in his chest, and a sense of unease filled him, before he shook himself mentally and turned back to paying attention to the lesson.

When the final bell rang for class, Naruto quickly gathered his things and headed out, being careful to suppress his abilities in order to not get overwhelmed. He dashed out of the Academy and headed over to the training ground he was supposed to meet Hawk at as quickly as he could.

When he got there, Naruto found Hawk leaning against a tree, his mask firmly in place. "Do you ever take that mask off?" Naruto asked him when he got closer.

"When I'm at home," Hawk replied dryly. "But for safety reasons, ANBU never reveal their identities without a damn good reason. Which means, while on duty, the mask stays on. Now, catch!"

Naruto barely brought his hand up in time to catch an object that was wrapped in cloth. He quickly unwrapped it to find a similar bow to the one he had seen Hawk use, though this one was obviously older and a bit smaller. He looked up at Hawk with a questioning look.

"One of my old bows. Figured it would be more your size and this way you can practice on your own. When you leave today, I'll give you a quiver with some arrows. I'm trusting you with these tools, so be very careful. As I'm sure you can guess, fixing or replacing them is very difficult to do," Hawk told the boy.

"Tools? I thought they were weapons," Naruto said in confusion as he looked up from his new weapon.

"They are, but they are so much more as well. A bow and arrow isn't just a weapon, Naruto, it's also a tool in the right hands. A very versatile one when used correctly," Hawk told the boy firmly. "But that's for a much later date. For now, we are going to start on your form, and then eventually…you'll get to shoot."

"When?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Hawk grinned wickedly under his mask. "When you're ready."

Naruto just let out a groan of annoyance. He had a very strong feeling that he was going to quickly come to hate that phrase.

XxXxXxX

Despite Naruto's worries, Hawk had him shooting by the end of the lesson. Despite Naruto's practice with kunai and shuriken, he found that his aim with a bow and arrow left much to be desired of. It required a completely different technique to accurately aim a bow and arrow compared to a shuriken, let alone a kunai. While he was able to hit the target, he couldn't hit the same place twice, unless by accident, and he missed the target completely at times.

During the lesson, Naruto's eyes would occasionally shine brighter when he was focusing completely on trying to hit the target, and at times, he could almost feel like he could sense the path of the arrow and affect it slightly. But those feelings would quickly pass, and he'd miss the next shot completely.

"Well, I've seen better," Hawk told him at the end of the lesson as he pulled out a quiver of arrows for Naruto to practice with. "Then again, I've seen worse as well. If you practice, you'll get better."

Naruto accepted the quiver of arrows with shaking arms. His arms had never been so tired before in his life. He nearly dropped the quiver and quickly slung it over his shoulder with his new bow so that he didn't drop either one. "How long will my arms be like this after practice?" Naruto asked him as he tried to rub some feeling back into his arms.

"Hard to say. It all depends on you, kid," Hawk told him nonchalantly as he sealed his own bow and arrows away.

Naruto sighed and thanked his new teacher before leaving the training ground and heading home. He needed a long hot shower and a good rest…after eating some ramen, of course.

XxXxXxX

Over the next few months, Naruto quickly fell into a routine. He would go to the Academy, sit through his classes, and then afterwards he would head home. From there, Naruto would either grab his bow and quiver of arrows and find a nice secluded place to practice, or he would head over to the Yamanaka Clan compound to meet with Inoichi for more practice with control exercises. With his insanely large chakra reserves, he needed all the practice and help he could get with his control, not even including his developing mental abilities.

There was unfortunately some negative developments in his life during this time as well. His best friend, Ino, had in a single week made a new friend named Sakura and then lost said friend to a developing rivalry over Sasuke, the boy both girls had fallen in love with at first sight. Which was something that Naruto just didn't understand, even with all his gifts. And for some reason, Ino spending so much time talking about Sasuke and gushing about how amazing the young Uchiha was, not to mention the amount of her free time she spent stalking him, made Naruto very uncomfortable and sad at times.

However, Naruto didn't want to lose his first and best friend, so he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself, not letting anyone know of his uneasiness besides Shisui, who continued to spend time with him when he could, especially after he had let the Hokage know of both Naruto's latest ability to read minds and his minimal knowledge of the Uchiha's unrest.

Shisui had been surprised to find that the Hokage was well aware of the unrest and growing tension in the Uchiha Clan when he had reluctantly revealed just what thoughts Naruto had picked up from his mind, though in hindsight, that shouldn't have surprised him at all. The Hokage was known as the Professor, after all, and he had eyes and ears everywhere.

Shisui was pulled from his thoughts by Naruto's finger poking into his side. He had taken the young blonde out to work on his taijutsu, seeing as the Academy's taijutsu teacher had quickly shown himself to be one of those that despised the young boy and refused to teach him properly. When Shisui had come across Naruto practicing his forms incorrectly, he had promptly burned the purposely wrong practice scrolls Naruto had been given and led the boy out to an empty training ground to fix what had been broken already.

"Shisui! Stop spacing out!" Naruto whined as they walked. "Come on, you know all about girls, right? An old guy like you must have been able to figure them out."

Shisui sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as his wandering attention was brought back to the present. "For the last time, Naruto, I am not old!"

"You're like twenty, right? That's old," Naruto said with a nod, as if he had proven his point.

Shisui narrowed his eyes at the blonde and smacked him upside the back of his head. "Fine, I'm older than you, so respect your elders." When Naruto simply stuck his tongue out at him, Shisui laughed and rubbed his hair. "So, Naruto-chan is having girl trouble already. They grow up so fast," he said with a fake sniffle and pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Come on, Shisui," Naruto groaned as they approached the training ground. "What's the deal with Ino? It's like she completely changed overnight. Now all she does is talk about Sasuke and it's making me feel…weird."

"Oh? Are you…jealous?" Shisui said with a smirk.

Naruto blushed crimson as he looked away. "I aint jealous of Sasuke-teme! I just don't understand what Ino is thinking or why she's so hung up on him. He isn't even all that good, especially compared to you."

Shisui laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair again as they stopped in a clearing with several logs stuck in the ground. "Naruto, I'll let you in on a little secret. The female mind is a scary and unknowable thing. Just when you think you're starting to figure girls out; something will happen, and you'll realize that you were completely wrong. You might be able to predict what they are going to do or say, but no man can ever truly understand a woman's mind."

Shisui then winked at Naruto and got into a basic fighting stance. "Now come on, let's fix those mistakes they tried to teach you at the Academy. If we have time afterwards, then I'll see if I can help you with your little girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto shouted, his face bright red in embarrassment, especially as he could feel waves of amusement coming from the other man.

"If you say so," Shisui replied with a chuckle. "Now come on, copy my forms. When you master these basic moves and forms, then I'll teach you some more advanced techniques."

The still blushing Naruto sighed and tried to copy Shisui's stance, his mind unconsciously reaching out to Shisui's and helping him understand what he was doing and how he was doing it. When he was able to flow through the beginner's forms smoothly and without any errors after only a couple hours of practice, Shisui had to suppress his shock.

"Not bad, kid," Shisui said softly as he watched Naruto practice.

"Aw, come on! Why does everyone call me that? First Hawk, now you?" Naruto grumbled as he moved through the forms.

"Who?" Shisui asked curiously.

"Hawk. He's this ANBU that I met that's been teaching me kyūjutsu. He rarely calls me by my name, just calls me 'kid' usually," Naruto replied with a shrug as he finished and headed over to Shisui, who handed him a bottle of water.

"Wait, why are you learning kyūjutsu? Ninja don't really use that anymore," Shisui asked with a smirk of amusement.

"That's why I'm learning it. Because no one uses it, people won't know how to handle someone that does. Believe it!" Naruto told him excitedly. As he did, Naruto absently noticed that he wasn't as tired as he thought he would be. It seemed that his archery practice was making not just his arms stronger.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of it that way," Shisui said as he considered this new development. He looked at Naruto with a new perspective. "Well, when you get good with your bow, we'll have to see about integrating that into your taijutsu. Kyūjutsu users are notoriously weak at close range combat, and if you take away their bow, they are practically useless. So, we should work on removing that particular weakness from your style before it takes hold."

"Awesome! I'm gonna be the best and aint nobody gonna stop me!" Naruto shouted with a fist pump.

"What would Inoichi say about your grammar, Naruto?" Shisui remarked idly as he looked at the excited child, smirking in amusement as Naruto visibly deflated.

"He'd make me reread those grammar books…again," he replied dejectedly. He then looked up at Shisui with tear filled eyes and a pleading look. "Please don't tell him? Please?"

Shisui let out a laugh and pulled Naruto into a one-armed hug. "Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself."

Like a switch being flipped, Naruto was cheerful again, no trace of his earlier tears or sadness evident. "Thanks, Shisui! You're the best."

* * *

**So, another chapter done, and things are starting to get interesting, right? Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter. Once again, if you have any ideas or thoughts you'd like to share, as long as they are constructive, I'd love to hear them.**

**I'm drawing from various inspirations for the archery idea, though I'll admit that there is one major source of inspiration that gave me most of my ideas, but again, it's something that I've only ever seen once in a Naruto fanfic and I think it'll fit in perfectly with the direction I'm planning to take this story.**


	4. A Plot Foiled

**Two chapters in a week! Seems my muse really likes me right now. **

**Thanks for the reviews. While there weren't as many as I had hoped, hopefully this chapter will inspire more of you to hit that review button. While there have been a lot of changes already in this story, this chapter is where things are really going to start taking off. **

**I own nothing but the plot and what I create. Also, this chapter is dedicated to and inspired by a quote I heard recently. "Knowledge is the power that changes behavior."**

* * *

It was a warn sunny day in Konoha that found Naruto practicing with his bow at a training ground not too far from the Uchiha Clan compound. It had now been over a year since he had started at the Academy, and he had been excelling in all his courses, though you wouldn't know it by his performance in class. Naruto knocked another arrow and took aim at his target, the homework that he had turned in earlier in the week that Iruka had given back that day. With a smirk, Naruto loosed the arrow and it streaked across the clearing, traveling over 100 feet in mere seconds and pierced the piece of paper right where Iruka had corrected one of his 'mistakes'.

As he grabbed another arrow from the quiver on his back, Naruto thought back to the day that he had decided to hide his true abilities. While he had wanted to show off how awesome he was, Shisui had said something to him that had stuck in his mind and was the catalyst for his decision to hide not just his abilities, but his true strength as well.

They had been talking about the true mark of a shinobi, and Shisui had told him that "_a nameless shinobi who protects peace from within its shadow __was the true mark of a shinobi.'_ A ninja had to be willing to sacrifice everything for his home, his family, and his village and be willing to die a nameless death if it meant saving those they cared about.

Naruto had taken that to heart and from then on, he had tried his best to blend into the shadows, neither excelling in class nor failing, staying exactly in the middle of the class. While other aspiring ninja tried to be the best, such as the insufferable Sasuke and Ino's rival Sakura, Naruto simply did what was required and no more, sometimes purposely making mistakes to lower his grade on written assignments, such as the one he was using for target practice.

Naruto let out a scoff as he nailed another correction with an arrow. "_Like it really matters what our school grades are in the real world. Being the 'Rookie of the Year' is just a label for the weak minded to feel better about themselves…and a target for others to aim at,_" Naruto thought with a vicious smirk.

He started to reach for another arrow but stopped and stiffened as he felt a presence suddenly appear behind him in the trees just as a kunai flew through the air and scratched his cheek as he tried to dodge. He grabbed an arrow and knocked it, spinning to try and find the person that had snuck up on him.

"Who's there?" he demanded as he opened his senses to try and track his attacker. The fact that someone had managed to avoid his passive senses picking them up was very unusual. Granted he hadn't been actively paying attention to his surroundings, but after all the years of practice with his empathy and the last year of developing his telepathy, it was highly unusual for him not to sense someone these days, especially this close.

"Wouldn't you like to know," a woman's voice drifted in on the breeze, though it was being masked using a chakra technique to make it hard to tell where it was coming from.

"_The most dangerous weapon is the one you never see coming," _was a thought that Naruto picked up just before another kunai was launched at him. This time, however, he was ready. His arrow met the kunai in the air, knocking it away.

"_I'm going to need to remember that saying…if I survive this,_" Naruto thought to himself as he quickly readied another arrow.

"Nice try, lady," Naruto called out as he scanned the tree line.

"Oh, how cute. The brat actually knows how to use his toy," the woman mocked him from the shadows.

"You have no idea. Now, come out and tell me why you attacked me," Naruto growled out in annoyance. He had spent untold hours practicing with his bow to get as good as he was, and this woman dared to call his weapon a toy!

"Make me, brat!" Her voice came from behind him this time.

"Fine," Naruto said as he finally tracked her down. Her mind was very well protected and hard to find, but once he did, she stood out to him like a spotlight.

Naruto spun to his left and let his arrow fly into the branches of a tree nearly fifty feet away. There was an undignified shout of surprise as a woman in a tan trench coat tumbled out of the tree with a cut on her cheek in the exact same place that Naruto did.

The mysterious woman righted herself in midair and landed gently on her feet. She rubbed her cheek with a finger and narrowed her eyes when she pulled it away and saw blood on it. She glared at Naruto, though there was a good amount of respect in her eyes along with the anger.

"How did you do that? A little brat like you shouldn't have been able to find me," the woman snapped at him as she walked up to him. Though walked wasn't the right word as she practically glided across the ground.

Naruto just grinned at her. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said, throwing her earlier words right back at her.

The woman's jaw dropped slightly before she started laughing. "Oh, that's good. You got serious stones, brat, I'll give you that," she told him as he neared him, causing him to stiffen in worry. Naruto took a step back into a ready stance in case he needed to fight as he reached out to her mind to try and learn more about her. He still wasn't too good at going into other people's minds on purpose, though he was getting better at reading surface thoughts.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked cautiously as he looked at the woman. She was of average height, with an amazing body that was covered by a dense fishnet bodysuit that ended at her shapely thighs and a tan trench coat. Her hair was styled in a spikey ponytail and her light brown eyes appeared to have no pupils. She also had a fang pendant handing from her neck and her forehead protector was tied around her forehead.

"Well, since you managed to actually tag me, I guess you deserve a reward," she told him with a smirk that sent shivers down his spine. She placed her hand on her hip and winked at Naruto. "I am the sexy and single, Mitarashi Anko!"

"Sexy and single? You know I'm only ten, right?" Naruto said with narrowed eyes.

"Brat, I'm not hitting on you," Anko growled at him. "You couldn't handle all this," she said as she motioned to her body. "Maybe when you actually grow up, short stuff…then again, I'm picky and you'd be damned lucky to be picked by me."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he took another step away from her. "Ok, so why'd you attack me?" he asked her cautiously. He wasn't picking up any negative feelings from her, and her thoughts were…very different.

Anko rolled her eyes and started spinning a kunai on a finger. "I figured I'd cut through this training ground on my way to my favorite dango place and saw you playing with your toy and decided to have a little fun."

"This isn't a toy," Naruto snapped at her as he held up his bow, though he knew from her thoughts that she was doing that on purpose to annoy him.

"Well, I assumed that as no real ninja would ever be caught actually using a bow, you were playing around with a toy you found," she told him smugly.

Naruto gave her a deadpan look and pointed over to the kunai he had knocked out of the air with an arrow. "Well, I was able to use this 'toy' to deflect your kunai, as well as tag you while you were 'hiding'," he told her sarcastically. "You suck at that, by the way."

Anko suddenly vanished from his sight, though he caught her thoughts suddenly appear behind him and he felt the cold of the metal from her kunai resting against his throat. He gulped as he felt a bead of blood run down his neck as the kunai broke his skin.

"You want to say that again, brat?" she asked softly as she leaned against his back.

Naruto cursed the fact that he had heard enough thoughts over the year that he knew exactly what was pressed against his back and he also knew that he was hitting puberty and that was affecting him slightly. "Uh…I…" Naruto stuttered as he tried to focus on the situation and not on Anko's sizable assets against his back, cursing his body. He let out a sigh as he focused his mind to ignore everything but the knife at his throat and Anko's mind.

With a slight telepathic nudge, Naruto distracted Anko and knocked the kunai away, diving forward into a roll and coming up with an arrow pointed straight at her heart. "Would you knock that off? I'm only an Academy student, you psycho!"

Anko was yet again surprised by the boy she was playing with. She wasn't really trying to hurt him, just to scare him, yet he was not reacting like she expected him to. "What's your name, brat?" There was something about him that was familiar, but she wasn't too sure.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto, and one day I'll be the best ninja ever," Naruto told her confidently, though he didn't lower his bow.

Anko let out a soft laugh as she put the name to the face. She didn't have much exposure to the kid, having worked a lot in the Torture and Interrogation department over the last few years. "Well, you certainly have the sack for it. Not many kids like you can stand up to me."

"Lady, there aren't any others like me," Naruto told her with a grin.

Anko laughed again as she sheathed her kunai in her coat. "Well, that is almost true," she told him, thinking about his status as a jinchūriki. "_Being one of only nine people with demons sealed in them makes him very unique._"

Naruto looked at her in surprise as he heard her thought. "What do you mean there's a demon sealed inside me?" he asked her in shock, forgetting in his shock that she didn't know about his abilities.

Anko looked at him with equal shock and surprise. "I didn't say anything."

Naruto gulped and back away, keeping his guard up. "No, but you thought it."

Anko knew that the Yamanaka's were able to read thoughts and communicate telepathically, but they generally needed either to be very familiar with the other person or have a machine to amplify their ability. Also, such a technique was generally reserved for higher level Clan members, usually chunnin and above.

"How did you do that?" she asked him cautiously. "You aren't a Yamanaka."

"No, but it's just something I can do...among other things," Naruto muttered, his thought flying as he thought back to all the things he had felt and heard over the years, all of them suddenly making sense. All the hatred and fear directed towards him for no apparent reason. People pulling their children away from him, leaving him all alone, right up until he was introduced to the Yamanaka's. Meeting them probably saved him in ways he couldn't imagine.

Naruto looked up at Anko with narrowed eyes. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked her, his voice breaking slightly.

Anko sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "There's a law, kid. No one could say anything."

Naruto could feel her telling the truth and nodded as he slowly put his arrow back in the quiver on his back and slung his bow over his shoulder. "Well…uh…thanks, I think."

Anko blinked in surprise. "Why are you thanking me?"

Naruto gave her a slight smile. "Because out of all the people in my life, no one ever said anything to me, but when you slipped, you didn't deny it and told me the truth."

Naruto went over and collected his arrows, leaving Anko standing there staring at him in thought. When he finally moved to leave, Anko called out to him. "Hey, you want to come with me to get some dango? My treat…for the misunderstanding. But don't expect it to happen again, alright?"

Naruto let a smile form on his face as he nodded his head and walked over to her, letting her lead the way.

XxXxXxX

Naruto left the dango shop a while later and started walking in a random direction. He usually kept his abilities suppressed to keep from getting overwhelmed and to give people their privacy, but that night he decided to open his senses and listen to those around him. Eventually he ended up sitting on a rooftop looking up at the Hokage monument as he listened to all the thoughts around him for over 100 yards.

Shisui found him a while later, having come from a secret meeting with the Hokage about the forming rebellion in the Uchiha Clan. He stopped and sat next to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing here?" Shisui asked curiously.

"I know now, Shisui," Naruto said numbly. He looked up at a confused Shisui. "I know about what's inside me."

Shisui cursed under his breath. "I take it you heard about it inside someone's mind?"

Naruto just nodded and looked over to his right, were he heard the thoughts of a man planning to cheat on his wife.

"Naruto…Naruto," Shisui said, trying to get his attention. He could see by the slightly unfocused look to his eyes that he wasn't paying attention to him, listening to the voices only he could hear. When Naruto turned to look at him, Shisui placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Focus on me, just me."

Naruto shook his head and pulled his senses back, all the thoughts around him fading away as he focused on just Shisui. A single tear rolled down his cheek as the emotions inside him started overwhelming him without the distraction of listening to others' thoughts.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Naruto asked him softly, his voice breaking. "Did they really think that I'm…it? Am I it? Do I even really exist?"

Shisui cursed the decision to not tell Naruto, but it wasn't his choice. He pulled the young boy into a hug, Naruto breaking down into tears at the action. Shisui just held the boy as he lost his composure. "No, Naruto, you aren't the fox. You are just it's jailer, the one that protects everyone else from it. You're a hero."

"Then why does everyone hate me? I walked through the village and I heard them! They want me to die, to pay for the crimes of the fox!" Naruto sobbed into his shoulder. Now he knew why Inoichi had made him promise not to read other people's thoughts unless necessary. He had thought at the time it was to protect him from being overwhelmed, though now he knew there was another reason for it beyond that.

"Not everyone thinks that way, Naruto," Shisui told him softly. "I certainly don't, Inoichi-san doesn't, Iruka-san doesn't, and Hokage-sama certainly doesn't. The people that know you and truly care about you, we don't care what you contain, as we know who you really are inside."

After a few minutes, Naruto sniffled and pulled away from Shisui, rubbing his eyes and looking away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

Shisui just smiled gently at Naruto and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. I think your reaction was pretty reasonable, considering the situation. Just don't forget, you have people that care for you, and we always will."

Naruto nodded and stood up, wavering on his feet as he suddenly felt lightheaded and then a sudden burst of pain had him cradling his head.

"Naruto, you alright?" Shisui asked as he hurried to his feet.

"Yeah, just never done anything like that before and feeling the result," Naruto told him with a groan. Eventually the pain faded, and Naruto gave Shisui a grateful look. "I'm alright, thank you."

Shisui nodded and watched as Naruto jumped down from the roof and headed home. He sighed and headed home himself, his thoughts heavy.

XxXxXxX

Naruto spent the next few days keeping himself busy with training, school, and more training. Shisui would show up to help him train at times. Over the past few months, they had started working on a whole new style of taijutsu, designed around Naruto's use of a bow. It was slow going, adapting other techniques to his new style, but Naruto was excited. This was something that Hawk hadn't even done before. He might have adapted his father's kyūjutsu and bow to be more ninja friendly, but when it came to close combat, even Hawk dropped the bow to use his sword and other weapons.

Naruto looked up at the sky, seeing the sun overhead reminded him that Shisui was supposed to meet him around noon to help him with his bunshin technique, which he was still having trouble with. But Shisui was nowhere to be seen and Naruto couldn't sense him anywhere within his range, which had grown to be significant, especially after him using his telepathy so strongly earlier in the week. Letting loose with his abilities seemed to have given them a boost, whether or not that was temporary still remained to be seen.

Naruto sighed and gathered up his loose weapons, having been working on his aim with shuriken and kunai, before heading off towards the Uchiha compound. Shisui probably had gotten distracted and forgot again, so he'd go to him instead.

As Naruto got closer, his mind picked up what he had taken to calling an 'echo'. When he was in the same area where something intense had happened, he could sometimes feel a remnant of that and see what happened, all depending on how powerful the echo was and how strong he was. Despite wanting to go grab Shisui for some practice, Naruto's curiosity was peaked, and he stopped to focus on his senses to see what had happened.

All around Naruto the colors seemed to fade slightly, and wisps of blue energy swirled around as his mind started to recreate whatever had happened. Judging by the strength of the echo, whatever had happened, it happened recently, probably within the last half hour.

Naruto looked around, his eyes and mind seeing both the present and the past at the same time, and a gasp escaped him as he saw an echo of Shisui walking towards him, only to stop and look around.

"_I know you're there, so quit playing around and come out,_" Shisui's echo said, the voice sounding to Naruto as if coming from a far distance. He concentrated harder, trying to strengthen his connection.

Two masked figured in cloaks faded into view, probably having come from the trees surrounding the echo's location. "_You have become a threat, and you need to be removed,_" one of the figures said emotionlessly as he drew a tanto that had a flat tip.

"_Just me or the whole Uchiha Clan?"_ Shisui said cautiously, his eyes turning red as he activated his sharingan. The red of his eyes really stood out in contrast to the blue energy that was giving form to the echo.

"_Both,"_ the masked figures told him before blurring into motion. Naruto tried to keep up, but even in a memory, all three figures were moving too fast for him to see more than a blur.

Naruto followed the fight around the forest, moving with them as they traveled, and eventually he tripped over two prone figures laying on the ground about a hundred yards away. They were the two masked men that had been fighting Shisui, but they weren't dead either. It seemed they were merely unconscious.

Naruto focused again on the echo, having to put more effort into it as the energy was a little weaker now. He was able to skip past a lot of the fighting now that he knew that Shisui had obviously won and was looking for that spot in the echo.

After a few seconds, Naruto saw the echo Shisui stop and smile as the two masked fighters dropped to the ground unconscious. He shook his head and started to move away before a kunai being flung at him from the shadows stopped him in his tracks.

"_Finally getting your hands dirty, Danzo?"_ Shisui said as he caught the kunai easily. "_You should have known your drones couldn't defeat me."_

"_Indeed, you are correct,"_ a shadow figure said as the echo suddenly got stronger, though Naruto couldn't make out more than a blurred man talking to Shisui. "_It seems that I will have to do this myself."_

"_Why are you even doing this in the first place? You know the Hokage's plan! If I can change Fugaku's mind, either through words or with Kotoamatsukami, then the war will be averted," _Shisui said to the shadowy man.

"_If you believe that will work, then you are as stupid and naive as Hiruzen," _Danzo said evenly. "_Also, if you are willing to do that to the leader of you clan, then what is to stop you from using that technique on the Hokage or myself?"_

Shisui stiffened as he drew his tanto. "_So that's what this is about. You're afraid of being manipulated. Ironic and hypocritical to the last, Danzo. You probably think you can use my abilities better for your so-called 'Greater Good', but we both know that you are only interested in your own good, not the village's,"_ Shisui said with a shake of his head.

There was more to the echo, but Naruto felt a massive explosion not too far away, and he could now sense Shisui. He was fighting for his life, probably against this 'Danzo' guy, judging by the amount of chakra being flung around.

Naruto hesitated only for a second before running as fast as he could towards where he could feel Shisui.

XxXxXxX

Only a few minutes later, Naruto skidded to a stop before he could fall off a cliff. It seems that Shisui had led Danzo to a quarry or something, Naruto wasn't sure what, but Naruto could see that Shisui was greatly outnumbered as there were other masked figures fighting him that looked like ANBU but didn't feel right.

As he watched Shisui fighting against the odds, with an older man with his right arm in a sling watching the fight as well, though he was much closer, Naruto decided to help even the odds a bit. He pulled out his bow, knowing that if he tried to get in closer, he would probably get crushed. He was good enough to be a genin, but these guys were ANBU level… or better.

Naruto knocked an arrow and took aim at one of the masked fighters that was hanging back, waiting for an opening in Shisui's defenses to attack. With only a moment of hesitation, Naruto loosed the arrow adjusting its course slightly with his mind.

The masked Root ninja saw an opening appear and was about to move to take advantage when he felt an impact to his chest knocking him back. He blinked and looked down at his chest to see an arrow sticking out of it before he slumped to the ground and knew no more.

Fortunately for Naruto, no one noticed him killing one of their own, so he knocked another arrow and took aim, this time at a ninja that was higher up who was keeping Shisui distracted by throwing shuriken at him. A few moments later and he was dead with an arrow through his throat.

Naruto purposely kept from thinking about the fact that he had already killed two men and focused on the current situation. When it was all over, and if he was still alive, then he would deal with that knowledge and its consequences.

Carefully moving to better vantage points, being extremely careful to keep himself hidden, Naruto was able to thin the forces fighting Shisui until, with a slash of his tanto, Shisui was able to kill the last Root ninja he was fighting, leaving only him and Danzo on the field.

Shisui was surprised that no more Root came to fight him, but when he looked around, he saw a number of them dead with arrows in vital locations. He stiffened as he knew instantly what had happened. He had hoped at first that one of his clan had been helping him, maybe his cousin Itachi, but he only knew two people that used arrows, and if it had been Hawk, then there would be other ANBU helping him fight. So that left only Naruto.

He turned to face Danzo with a glare. "You're out of men, Shimura! And we both know you can't defeat me, which is why you called out so many of your flunkies to try and take me down by numbers. Surrender!"

Danzo glared at Shisui, his normally cool and collected attitude shaken as he watched his men get taken out by a man that didn't have the good sense to simply give up and die. Only he had the right to wield such power, and he would have it, one way or another. For the good of Konoha… and himself.

With a blur of motion, Danzo dashed towards Shisui, but froze mid-step only a few feet away from him as he was trapped in a paralysis genjutsu that Shisui trapped him in using his sharingan.

"You're a fool, Danzo," Shisui said with a shake of his head. He turned his attention to where he saw Naruto approaching him, having climbed down from where he had been sniping the Root members trying to kill him. While he was grateful beyond words that Naruto had helped him, he was also extremely annoyed that Naruto had placed himself in such a dangerous situation. "You! What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass, it seems," Naruto shot back with a grin, though that grin faded into a look of shock as he looked past Shisui.

Shisui turned just in time to see Danzo's body shimmer slightly and break out of his genjutsu. Before he could react, Danzo closed the distance between them and shot his hand towards his face. Shisui felt a burning pain in his right eye and he jumped back, feeling a tearing sensation as Danzo ripped his eye from his socket.

Danzo looked at Shisui with a smug look before glancing down at his prize. With this one eye, he could make anyone do anything he desired, and they would never even know it. When he looked up, his smug look vanished as a cloud of smoke appeared around him as the jinchuriki brat dropped a smoke pellet near him. He looked around to try and see anything, but when he felt the eye vanish from his hand, he let out a roar of rage that blew the smoke away from him as he channeled wind chakra.

In one fell swoop, Danzo had lost over fifteen Root, Shisui's eyes, and his place in the shadows, seeing as Shisui would inform Hiruzen that he had tried to steal a sharingan. That was an act of betrayal that Hiruzen would not be able to overlook. Danzo's days in Konoha were over, and he knew it. With a rare growl of anger, Danzo hurried away. He had a lot to do, and little time to do it in.

XxXxXxX

Naruto helped support Shisui's weight as he leaned against him. They had managed to slip away, with Naruto grabbing Shisui's stolen eye as they did, but Shisui had used a lot of chakra in the fight, and he had used far too much transporting both of them far enough away to be safe from Danzo, leaving him running on fumes.

"Who was that old guy?" Naruto asked as they took a break, sitting on some rocks. Looking around, Naruto realized where they were. They weren't too fare from the cave that he had found as a kid.

Shisui held his hand to his eye, trying to stop the bleeding. "That was Elder Shimura Danzo. He's one of the Hokage's advisors, though I had no idea he was willing to go this far to get his way," Shisui said as he bit back a groan of pain. Having one's eye ripped out wasn't a pleasant experience.

Naruto could feel his pain, and the depression that was starting to set in. "But now we know, and we can go to the Hokage about it, right?"

"What's the point? Danzo was right, the Uchiha won't listen anymore and will probably start a civil war," Shisui said softly. Naruto had figured out a few things on his own, so Shisui had told him about what was going on but had made him promise not to tell anyone what was going on. With his abilities, Naruto was the keeper of lots of secrets now.

Naruto turned to look at Shisui in shock. He had never heard him say anything like that before, it went completely against Shisui's character to even think that. "The point? The point is that the Uchiha have been driven to this point by all the fear and mistrust of the village, and after what I just saw and heard, I'm willing to bet my life that that creepy old bastard was behind it all," Naruto told him with narrowed eyes. He poked his finger into Shisui's chest, drawing his attention. "And if you ever even think about giving up again, I will go into your mind and make you think you are an eight-year-old girl!"

Shisui looked up at Naruto in shock, and a bit of amusement. "Oh really?"

Naruto nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yup! I'll even have Ino braid your hair."

Shisui let out a choked laugh as Naruto glared at him. He quickly held his free hand up in surrender. "Ok, ok, no giving up, I got it."

"Good, now let's go. We're almost back to the village," Naruto said as he helped Shisui stand up. "Seriously, what would you do without me?"

Shisui chuckled as they moved on. "Probably something stupid…like give my other eye to Itachi and kill myself to protect my clan and the village."

Naruto looked up at him with a deadpan expression. "Yeah, don't ever even think about doing that again."

Shisui used his free hand to give Naruto a little salute. "Promise. By the way, how did you find us? I could have sworn we were far enough away from the village and outside the range of your mental senses that you shouldn't have been able to find us."

Naruto shrugged slightly. "I came across the echo of your fight with those first two losers and followed it."

"Ah, I see," Shisui said with a shake of his head. Just when he thought he had Naruto figured out, the kid would do something to surprise him. Shisui frowned and sighed. "But Danzo has my eye…this is really bad. You don't know what he can do with just one of my eyes, but I do. This can turn out horrible."

"You mean this eye?" Naruto said innocently as he pulled out Shisui's eye from a pouch on his belt. He had stored it in an extra plastic baggy that he kept on hand for emergencies so that it wouldn't get damaged.

Shisui was shocked yet again. "How?"

"Snagged it when I threw the smoke pellet. Figured you might want it back," Naruto told him with a wide smile.

Shisui just shook his head in wonder as he took his eye back from Naruto. He had probably just saved the village with his actions and yet the kid had no idea just how much he had really done. He would definitely be talking to the Hokage about Naruto's actions when he told the old man about Danzo's treachery.

XxXxXxX

It took them a while, but eventually the two made it back to the village, Naruto immediately taking Shisui to the hospital where the two friends waited for the Hokage to show up. Surprisingly, it only took twenty minutes for the old man to get there. Either it was a slow day for him, or he had dropped everything when he was informed about Shisui and Naruto being in the hospital.

"So, according to you, Elder Shimura used his private forces to try and subdue you, and when that failed, he attacked you himself in order to attempt to steal your eye," Hiruzen said evenly after listening to Shisui's report of what had happened. "And how does Naruto fit into this?"

"I was on my way to meet with him when I was attacked, sir. When I didn't show up, he tracked me down," Shisui replied quickly. "When he came across the battle, instead of going for help, he decided to become the help I needed and covered my back."

"And you let him?" Hiruzen said in shock.

"I didn't really know until after the fake ANBU were all dead or incapacitated. Naruto kept his distance and attacked from range with his bow," Shisui said in defense of both of them. He stared at the Hokage with his good eye, the other one wrapped to protect it from further harm after having the eye replaced by a medic ninja.

Hiruzen looked over at the sleeping Naruto nearby. He had drifted to sleep during Shisui's report, though by the frown on his face, he wasn't sleeping peacefully. "I didn't know he was that good yet."

Shisui shook his head with a slight smile. "Hokage-sama, Naruto saved my life today. Every shot he made was a kill shot and he took out seven of them himself. He then distracted Danzo with a smoke pellet and stole my eye back before I was able to grab him and make our escape. And then he was able to help me get my head on straight afterwards, even though I know he was struggling himself to keep from thinking about the people he killed today," Shisui told his leader softly. He been around Naruto's age when he made his first kill, so he could understand how the boy felt.

Hiruzen studied the young boy carefully before turning to look at Shisui. "How good is he, Shisui?" he asked the injured man.

"Honestly, Hokage-sama, I don't know. Every time I think I know what he can do, he finds a new way to surprise me," Shisui told him honestly. "Though I can tell you, sir, that he is at least genin level, and with some one-on-one training on a constant basis, he could be chunnin level in less than a year."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was high praise from Shisui. He glanced back at Naruto in thought. A reward was in order for the boy, but he wasn't sure what. It would require some thought. Hiruzen turned his attention back to Shisui. "Very well. Now, do you feel able to continue your mission? I doubt I need to tell you how vital it is that we prevent a civil war."

Shisui nodded his head, though he winced slightly as his right eye pulsed with pain as the nerves continued to heal. "I understand, Hokage-sama. Once I'm released from the hospital, I will continue my mission, hopefully without further interference from Danzo," he told his leader. "Though, sir, I have a feeling that even if I can change Fugaku's mind, there will be some Uchiha that won't fall in line."

Hiruzen nodded and pulled out his pipe to start stuffing it with tobacco. "I agree, but this will give us more time to find a way to end this without bloodshed, I hope. Now, be careful, Shisui, and stay safe." With that, Hiruzen turned and headed out the door. He had a lot of work to get done thanks to this debacle.

"As you command, Hokage-sama," Shisui said softly to the almost empty room.

* * *

**Whew! So, Naruto and Anko have met, and sparks have flown resulting in Naruto finding out about his status as a Jinchūriki! And then, on top of that, Naruto saved Shisui from losing an eye to Danzo and having to commit suicide to keep the other one from that old fossil. One can only imagine how this will change how the future unfolds.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	5. Revelation

**Holy crap, the responses I got from my last chapter blew me away. Thank you so much for all your reviews. I got more reviews from my last chapter than from all the other chapters combined.**

**I'll be completely honest, up until I was writing the fight scene between Shisui and Danzo/Root, I wasn't sure if Shisui was going to live or die. But while I was writing it, I had a sudden burst of inspiration and so he lived.**

**As usual, I own nothing but what I create and the plot.**

* * *

Naruto sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He had his collection of crystals laid out on his desk in front of him and he was going through them out of boredom and curiosity. It was the weekend, so there was no school, and Shisui hadn't been released yet from the hospital and Hawk was away from the village on ANBU duties, so he didn't have anyone to train with. While he could go over to the Yamanaka's, with how much he and Ino had drifted apart since her obsession with Sasuke, he just didn't feel comfortable doing that unless he needed to.

So, there he was, sitting alone in his apartment 'recovering' from helping Shisui survive. Truthfully, he was perfectly fine, but when the Hokage tells you to take it easy and recover, you don't really argue…well, he did quite often, but this was different this time. He needed time to deal with what he did and being around other people was something he could do without.

As he idly played with the crystals, Naruto noticed that the dulled crystals, the ones that he had originally taken from the caves but had faded, were reacting to him. It wasn't very noticeable, but Naruto could feel a connection between them and him.

Something he had noticed over the last year was that while he could very strongly feel the chakra inside of him, there was another energy inside him as well, one that didn't react at all like chakra did. It was far less controllable than chakra, far less stable as well. While chakra was like a flow of water that he could direct and channel to be used, this energy was more like electricity, which wanted to be free and needed to be harnessed and controlled.

What really interested him was that when he held the crystal, that other energy seemed to stabilize inside him, and also seemed to be drawn towards the crystal in his hand. Considering all these things, Naruto decided to start calling this other energy 'psionic' energy, as it seemed a good fit as it wasn't directed by using seals or hand signs, but by using his mind and, apparently, these mysterious crystals.

Using a strip of leather, Naruto picked one of the smaller crystals that still had some energy inside it and wrapped the leather around it to make a pendant. With a slight smile, Naruto tied the newly made necklace off and slipped the cord around his neck, letting the crystal hang down just below his collarbone.

Naruto reached for another crystal to organize them again when a spark of psionic energy arced from his fingers. Naruto held up his hand in surprise and tried to replicate the feeling he'd had when the energy surged from him. He fell out of his seat in surprise when another spark of energy shot from his fingers and smacked him in the face.

Naruto looked up from his spot on the floor with a wide grin, his first true smile since the fight where he had killed for the first time. "Awesome!"

XxXxXxX

Shisui sighed as he walked through the Uchiha compound as he headed towards the Clan Leader's home to have a very important meeting with Fugaku. It had been two weeks since Danzo had betrayed the village and tried to steal Shisui's eyes. Since then, Shisui had heard from the Hokage that his cousin Itachi had come to the Hokage with the revelation that Danzo had told Itachi to prepare to eliminate his own Clan. Danzo had told Itachi that it was the will of the Hokage, but when Shisui had been attacked by him, Itachi had gone to the Hokage to see if his orders remained the same. The old Hokage hadn't been pleased to find out how far his old friend's betrayal went.

Shisui nodded to one of the Uchiha on guard duty as he entered Fugaku's home, slipping his sandals off as he did. He softly padded across the floor as he headed towards Fugaku's office where he knew the older man would be. He knocked on the door gently and waited for permission to enter.

"Come," Fugaku said firmly, his voice slightly muffled through the door.

Shisui opened the door and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him as he did. Fugaku was sitting at a low table where a tea set had been placed, sipping a cup of tea as he looked up at Shisui.

"Fugaku-sama," Shisui said respectfully as he knelt down on the other side of the table.

"Shisui, please, have some tea," Fugaku told him, only the barest hint of a smile on his face as he looked at the best ninja his clan had produced since Madara.

Shisui nodded and silently poured himself a cup of tea, taking the time to organize his thoughts. The silence between the two men stretched on for a few minutes before it was broken by Fugaku.

"How are you recovering?" Fugaku finally asked after some time.

"Well enough, Fugaku-sama. The medic-nins at the hospital were able to repair my eye without too much issue, seeing as I was able to get there quickly enough," Shisui replied before taking another sip of tea.

"I see," Fugaku said with a nod. "I still have trouble believing that Shimura would sink so low as to try and steal a sharingan."

Shisui frowned as he knew his next comment would not be well received. "Fugaku-sama, I don't believe this was the first time Danzo tried to steal a sharingan, just the first time that it was found out."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed at Shisui's statement. "Explain yourself," he demanded.

Shisui sighed sadly. "When we were fighting, I trapped him in a genjutsu that I created myself and have used before. It's extremely difficult to break, even for me," he told his Clan leader softly. However, he looked at Fugaku with conviction in his eye. "When Danzo broke my genjutsu, he did so in a truly unique way…by changing the world around him."

"Izanagi!" Fugaku gasped in shock. "You cannot be serious, Shisui! Perhaps you were mistaken, or didn't see correctly…"

"My eyes were clear, Fugaku-sama," Shisui cut in with a shake of his head. "My sharingan was active and I know what I saw. Danzo used the forbidden technique to break free so that he could steal my eye. He used a sharingan to try and steal an even better one."

Fugaku took a long drink of his tea, his mind racing at this information. In order for Danzo to use Izanagi, he had to have already taken at least one sharingan beforehand, as only a mature sharingan could be used to perform that technique. It cost the eye that used it its sight, which is why the technique was forbidden.

Shisui decided to press his advantage while his Clan leader was off balance. "Fugaku-sama, I think with this new development, that the Uchiha's…plan, should be discontinued. Our true enemy was never the Hokage, or even the village as a whole. It was Danzo," he said firmly.

"What do you mean?" Fugaku asked him curiously, still trying to wrap his mind around this new information.

"Fugaku-sama, Danzo just about admitted to me that he was behind the troubles that have plagued our Clan, and since he was forced to flee the village, those that were causing issues for us, spreading rumors and casting doubts on our loyalty to the village, have also gone silent," Shisui told him seriously. "It's not a far stretch to conclude that they were doing so under Danzo's orders, trying to make us do something desperate in order to justify his actions in exterminating us! He knows that the Uchiha would never bow to him, never be under his control, so he sought to wipe us out so that he could take the source of our strength for his own."

Fugaku found himself nodding in agreement with the younger man. He had been thinking similar thoughts the last few days, and the latest information only confirmed his worst fears. They had nearly played right into Danzo's plans, so blinded by their pride, ironically enough, that they couldn't see what was truly going on. He took another long drink of his tea as he thought about what to do now.

"Perhaps, it is time for us to look past our anger and wounded pride," Fugaku said softly as he turned his head to look out his office window at the village. He could see the Hokage's tower in the distance and he realized that there was a great opportunity here if he had the courage and strength to walk a different path. He nodded to himself in thought. "As you said, Shisui, the Hokage and the village aren't our enemies. It was Danzo who proved himself to be no ally of the Uchiha, willing to destroy us in his pursuit of more power."

Shisui looked up at Fugaku hopefully. He hadn't even needed to use anything but words at this point to get Fugaku to change his mind. He wasn't looking forward to the smug look on Naruto's face when he found out that he had been right.

"Fugaku-sama?" Shisui said softly after a few minutes of silence.

"Shisui, you were also incorrect about something," Fugaku said finally as he turned to face him. "While the Uchiha as a whole would never follow Danzo…it seems that he was able to convince several of our people to leave with him when he fled the village."

Shisui frowned at that new information. It was extremely disturbing to hear that, as with even just one sharingan in his control, Danzo was dangerous. With several sets at his disposal…Shisui shuddered at the thought.

"What would you have me do, Fugaku-sama?" Shisui asked his leader.

Fugaku poured himself some fresh tea as he started to fill in Shisui on his thoughts for the future, a future that they now had thanks to the efforts of both Shisui and, unexpectedly, Uzumaki Naruto.

XxXxXxX

Hiruzen didn't look up as he heard the door to his office open and close, busy reading a proposed bill to allow more resources to be used to track and hunt down Danzo. He signed it with a heavy heart before setting it aside to look up at his visitor. After almost a month since the incident, it still wasn't easy to think about his old friend's betrayal.

"Shisui-kun, thank you for coming. How are you recovering?" he asked kindly as he looked at the young man who had taken a seat on the other side of his desk.

"Well enough, Hokage-sama," Shisui replied with a slight smile. He had stopped wrapping his eye but knew that it wasn't fully healed. He wasn't sure it ever fully would be. "You sent for me, sir?"

Hiruzen chuckled and smiled at the young man. It was in large part thanks to him that Naruto had turned out so well. There was very little that he would refuse Shisui should he ask for it, though he wasn't exactly planning on letting him know that. He pulled out his pipe and lit it before taking a long pull from it. "Yes, I did. I've been thinking about young Naruto's reward for helping you in bringing Danzo's actions into the light, as well as his efforts in assisting your battle against Root, and I could use your input."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. How can I be of service?" Shisui said with a smile. He was glad that Naruto would be getting more than a pat on the head, as he had literally saved Shisui's life. If anyone deserved a reward, it was the young blonde.

"I have spent the last month looking at similar situations, and though many of them were during war times, I believe there is enough of a precedent that no one can object to my decision," Hiruzen told Shisui with a smile.

"You are the Hokage, sir. Your word is law," Shisui reminded the older man softly.

Hiruzen let out a soft laugh, smoke filling the air. "Ah, the idealism of youth. Don't ever lose that, Shisui-kun," Hiruzen told him. "Technically you are correct, of course. However, should the Council not approve of my decision, they can make things far more difficult than they should be."

"I see," Shisui said with a frown.

"But we aren't here to discuss my issues with the Council. Now, I have a request to make of you in relation to Naruto's reward," Hiruzen said as he shifted some papers around before he found what he was looking for. He slid it over to Shisui and leaned back in his seat, puffing on his pipe as he watched Shisui read.

As Shisui read, he was filled with both joy and sorrow. What the Hokage had planned for Naruto was an amazing future, but unfortunately, Shisui wouldn't be able to play the part that Sarutobi had in mind for him. When he finished, he set the paper down and looked up at Hiruzen with a frown.

"Hokage-sama, while I am extremely honored by the faith you have in me, I'm afraid that I must decline this offer," Shisui said sadly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Hiruzen said in confusion. The basic summery of what he had given Shisui to read was that Naruto would be given a test and should he pass, he would be officially graduated from the Academy and placed in an Apprenticeship under Shisui until such time as he proved himself able to be a chunnin.

"There are several reasons why I must decline, sir. The first is that I am too close to Naruto. He's like a brother to me, and I don't feel I could remain objective enough. I would be more than happy to continue in my current course of helping him when I can, but no more," Shisui said with a shake of his head.

"And the other reason?" Hiruzen asked curiously. He could respect Shisui's decision, though it didn't make things any easier for the old man.

"As I'm sure you know, when Danzo left, he didn't leave alone," Shisui told him seriously. When Hiruzen nodded, Shisui continued. "Several members of nearly every Clan disappeared right after Danzo fled the village. Whether they left willingly or not, they must be tracked down and brought back…especially those of the Uchiha Clan."

"I see," Hiruzen said as he looked at Shisui in thought. "You intend to track them down? By yourself?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Shisui replied with a shake of his head. "I intended to apply to join ANBU, specifically the Hunter-nin division, and assist them in recovering those taken from our village." After telling the Hokage that, Shisui took out a folded piece of paper and slid it across to the old man.

Hiruzen took the paper and opened it up to reveal a formal letter of intent to join ANBU. He sighed as he folded the paper back up and placed it to the side. "With your record and achievements, I cannot rightfully deny you this, Shisui. However, this does leave me in a difficult situation," Hiruzen said with a sigh. "There aren't many that are in a position to apprentice Naruto, and none of the others that I can think of would be able to see beyond his burden."

Shisui nodded in agreement. If there was one thing he could never fully forgive the village for, it was the treatment of Naruto. There were very few that saw beyond his status as a jinchūriki and could see Naruto for the young and gifted ninja he was shaping up to be. However, Shisui perked up when he had a thought. "Hokage-sama, what about Anko?"

"Anko? What makes you suggest her?" Hiruzen said in surprise. He hadn't even considered the former apprentice of Orochimaru.

"She and Naruto met before, just over a month ago," Shisui told his Hokage. "She was the one that he found out about his burden from, accidentally of course. He read her mind on accident when she was thinking about it."

"And you think she could remain objective and train him properly?" Hiruzen asked cautiously.

"I believe so. She didn't treat him like the others do, she treated him like she would anyone else, from what I can tell," Shisui said with a laugh as they both knew what they meant. Even Hiruzen cracked a smile as Anko's methods of toying with others was well known. "Also, I believe that she could help him develop his abilities and fighting style. She fights similar to how he's learning to fight, though she's a bit more up close than he is, that could also work well."

Hiruzen nodded in thought as he listened to Shisui. The younger man raised some very good points. However, there was the issue that Anko wasn't a full jounin, so this would need some thought. "I see. Thank you for your honesty, Shisui-kun. I greatly appreciate it."

Shisui stood and bowed to the Hokage, able to see the dismissal in his statement. "Of course, Hokage-sama. About my application?"

Hiruzen nodded and pulled his pipe from his mouth. "Report to training ground 11 in three days. You'll be tested and interviewed before a final decision is reached, but I have little doubt you will be selected for admission."

Shisui smiled and bowed again. "Thank you, Hokage-sama." With that, Shisui turned and left the office, leaving the Hokage to his thoughts.

After a few hours of thinking and doing paperwork, Hiruzen let out a sigh and called for his secretary. "Inform Mitarashi Anko that I wish to speak with her."

XxXxXxX

Naruto yawned as he walked home from the Academy, alone yet again. It had been almost three months since the incident with Danzo and while he had kept himself busy discovering new ways to use his psionic energy and abilities, he was also feeling more alone than ever. Shisui had been accepted into ANBU, something that Naruto was again sworn to secrecy about. And ANBU was being kept extremely busy trying to do damage control, so both Shisui and Hawk were never around anymore.

Naruto absently kicked a rock in his path, sending it flying down the road. He had tried to spend some time with Inoichi and his family, trying to find new control exercises as he had already mastered all the ones he had been taught, including water walking, but with how far apart he and Ino had fallen, it just felt more uncomfortable than usual being there. Especially as Ino had trouble talking about anything but Sasuke or ranting about Sakura.

So, there he was, once again alone as he headed home. He was about to reach the fork in the road that would lead him home when he heard his name being called out. He looked around and smiled when he saw the Hokage walking towards him.

"Hokage-jiji! What are you doing here?" Naruto called out as he hurried over to the old man.

"I was looking for you, actually," Hiruzen said with a kindly smile. "How about some ramen?"

Naruto perked up at the mention of ramen and nodded quickly. "Sure, come on! There's a great place not too far from here."

Hiruzen grinned at the hyperactive blonde doing a full 180 turn in attitude at the mention of ramen. He had seen the sad look on Naruto's face and was glad to see he could still be distracted. So, he followed Naruto to a small restaurant called Ramen Ichiraku, though Naruto usually just called it 'Ichiraku's'. As they sat down on a pair of stools at the ramen bar, the owner, a kindly man named Teuchi, and his daughter Ayame, came out to greet them.

"Hokage-sama! What an honor to have you here," Teuchi said with a bow before turning to look at Naruto with a smile. "And you, Naruto, where have you been? We haven't seen you in weeks!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he grinned at them. "Sorry Teushi-jiji, I've been really busy lately."

Ayame, a very cute girl about seventeen, who had her long brown hair tied back into a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face, smiled at Naruto and turned to the Hokage first. "What can we get for you today, Hokage-sama?"

"I'll take one miso ramen, thank you," Hiruzen said with a smile at the young girl.

"And I'll take a pork ramen!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly when Ayame turned to him.

"Of course you will," Ayame said with a laugh and winked at Naruto, causing him to flush red. She and her father got right to work on getting them their ramen, leaving the two of them to chat.

Hiruzen grinned at Naruto when he saw him blush. "Oh dear, is there something between you and our waitress, Naruto?" he teased the young blonde.

"What? Oh, come on, Hokage-jiji…I'm way too young for her," Naruto said in denial, though he continued to blush a deep red.

"Hmm, if you say so, Naruto," Hiruzen said with a wide grin. He missed spending time with the young boy, but his role as the leader of the village kept him too busy to spend a lot of time with him. "Now, do you know why I wanted to see you, Naruto?"

"No, but that's because I promised not to read people's minds unless necessary," Naruto said with a shrug and a grin, his blush fading away.

"Good lad," Hiruzen said with a nod. He knew that when Naruto made a promise, he did his best to keep it, no matter what. "Well, do you remember what happened a few months ago?"

Naruto nodded, his enthusiasm dimming as he thought back to his first kills. Inoichi had taken some time to talk to him about what had happened, both as a friend and sort of father figure, and as his role as part of the T&I department. Naruto was privy to very sensitive information, and Inoichi had to make sure that he knew not to spread that information around.

"Yeah, I remember," Naruto said softly.

Hiruzen placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, gently letting him know that he was there for him. "Well, based on what happened, and from Shisui's report, I decided that what you did went far beyond what is expected of an Academy student, and that deserves a proper reward," Hiruzen told Naruto with a gentle smile.

They were interrupted by the arrival of their food, which Ayame placed in front of them, the girl ruffling Naruto's hair fondly as she passed him on her way back to the kitchen. Naruto gave Hiruzen an even look when he sensed the older man's amusement.

"Not a word, ok?" Naruto said as he pointed his chopsticks at the Hokage before digging into his ramen.

Hiruzen simply arched an eyebrow in amusement before picking up his own chopsticks and started on his ramen. The two of them shared a comfortable silence as they ate, each savoring the delicious flavor of their meal. Once they were finished, with Naruto taking a long moment to drain the broth from his bowl, Hiruzen placed some money down for their food before motioning for Naruto to come with him.

"Come again soon," Ayame called out to them, waving to Naruto when he turned to look at her as they left, causing the boy to blush again when he caught Hiruzen's teasing look.

Hiruzen led Naruto towards the edge of the village, heading towards training ground seven, which Naruto liked to use simply as it was close to his apartment and there were several large wooden posts in the ground that he could use for practice, along with plenty of trees if he wanted to mix things up and add more interesting challenges for his practice.

"Now, as I said before, what you did proved that you have come further than I had ever expected, showing many traits that we value in our ninja. You showed grace under pressure, the ability to make difficult choices in tough situations, and a willingness to help someone even at great risk to yourself. The fact that you did all that and didn't receive as much as a scratch amazes and impresses me. You have proven yourself to be an exceptional Konoha ninja, and as such, you have proven yourself worthy of this uncommon honor," Hiruzen said to Naruto as they walked.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Naruto said as he discreetly wiped a tear away from his eye. "I didn't do it for a reward, you know that right? I just did what needed to be done. I wasn't gonna let Shisui die just to protect my own life."

Hiruzen smiled at the young blonde and patted him on the shoulder. "I know. Which is why I wanted to reward you, with this," he said as he pulled out a storage scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto grinned as he took the scroll and started to open it. However, the Hokage stopped him before he could unseal anything. "You can do that at home, Naruto. What is inside there are various journals, scrolls, and other information about your mother, Uzumaki Kushina," the old man said softly. He had of course gone through and made sure that nothing in there revealed any other secrets he wasn't ready for Naruto to find out about yet.

Naruto looked up at Hiruzen in shock, nearly dropping the scroll. "Really? Wait a second, you told me that you would tell me about my mother when I graduated from the Academy, and that's not for at least another year," Naruto said suspiciously.

Hiruzen simply smiled at Naruto's paranoia, as continued to walk towards the training ground. "I meant what I said then, and I am holding true to it now, Naruto. I promised to tell you about your mother when you graduated, and as of this afternoon, you are officially graduated from the Academy," he told Naruto, who had to catch up after stopping in shock.

"What? How?" Naruto almost shouted.

"Your assistance to Shisui fulfilled the practical application of ninja skills that students are judged on during the graduation exam, and over the last couple of weeks, the 'extra credit' work that I had Iruka assign you served as the written portion of the exam. I received your final grade just before you were released for the day by Iruka," Hiruzen told the shocked boy. He reached into his other sleeve and pulled out a brand new Konoha hitai-ate, the forehead protector shining in the sunlight. He stopped and handed it to Naruto, who took in reverently. "Congratulations, Naruto. I knew you would do me proud, but I'll admit, that I never expected you to come so far so quickly."

Naruto had to fight back the tears as he looked at the forehead protector in his hands, the physical proof of his new status as an official ninja of his village. Granted there was a lot of paperwork that he knew he would have to fill out in the near future, but as of right now, he was filled with an unusual feeling: joy. He looked up at the Hokage, the tears he was fighting back filling his eyes, as he smiled at the old man.

"Thank you, so much. I promise I won't disappoint you," he said, his voice breaking slightly with emotion.

Hiruzen smiled at him and continued walking. "I know you won't. Which is why I found a slight loophole in your placement; as there are no genin teams with any openings, I have chosen to make you an apprentice to a more experienced ninja."

"Shisui?" Naruto said hopefully as he tied his hitai-ate around his forehead. The temptation to simply read Hiruzen's mind was getting harder to resist.

Hiruzen shook his head, causing Naruto to frown slightly in disappointment. "Unfortunately his responsibilities prevent him from taking you on as an apprentice. However, I believe your new teacher will be a good fit for you and you for her," he said as they reached the training ground.

Naruto looked around eagerly for his new teacher, wanting to meet the ninja that was going to help him become stronger and better, when he felt a sensation that he hadn't felt in months. He sensed a very familiar thought pattern behind him just as a kunai was pressed against his throat and he felt a pair of 'assets' pressed against his back. "_Oh not this again,_" Naruto thought in despair.

"Oh, Hokage-sama, you brought me a new toy to play with," Anko said in delight as she felt Naruto stiffen in her grasp.

Hiruzen turned to look at where Anko had Naruto trapped in amusement, though he did his best to hide it. However, judging by the glare Naruto shot him, he didn't hide it well enough for the young psychic not to notice.

"Anko, I'd like to introduce you to your new apprentice, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, your new Sensei, Mitarashi Anko," Hiruzen formally introduced them, while fighting back a smile. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted."

"What? Wait, don't leave me alone with her!" Naruto shouted as Hiruzen turned to leave. The Hokage simply waved to them as he walked away. Naruto glared at the Hokage's back, though there was no real heat behind it.

"Oh, Naruto, you don't want to spend time with little old me?" Anko said with a purr of amusement.

"Not alone!" Naruto snapped at her as he fought down a blush at her teasing. He struggled in her grip and eventually made his way free. Fortunately for him, Anko had put away her kunai before so he didn't cut himself.

Anko took this chance to observe her first real student. She had never been given the chance to train someone before, due primarily to the mistrust in her based on her history with Orochimaru, so she had spent most of her time training, running solo missions, and helping in the Torture and Interrogation unit. Well, when she wasn't having fun, that is.

Her first impression of him was of measured caution. He seemed to be very energetic, yet he also kept his awareness open, as shown by him sensing her come up behind him. Yet his body wasn't ready to move, if something happened right now, he'd be caught flat footed and unprepared. "_He has too much confidence in his mental abilities. Overconfident idiot_," she thought to herself, though she was surprised by the lack of reaction in him.

"Are you not reading my mind right now?" she asked him curiously.

Naruto shook his head in response. "Nope, Inoichi made me promise not to go around reading peoples' minds. Him and the Hokage were worried about me finding out about the Kyuubi, but it was also about protecting other people's privacy and keeping me from being overwhelmed by too much information."

Anko shook her head and pointed a finger at him. "Ok, I want you to knock that out right now," she told him. "In this world, privacy is a luxury we don't get to have. So from now on, I want you start doing your mind thing whenever you come across someone, including me. It just might save your life one day."

Naruto frowned at her instructions but nodded hesitantly. He was a real ninja now, so he had to step up and deal with things that he didn't really want to.

Anko grinned when she saw him nod. "So, how does that work, brat? Do you pick up everything? Or just some things?"

Naruto rubbed his neck and shifted his weight from foot to foot. "It's…complicated. When I relax, I can pick up surface thoughts, just what a person is feeling or thinking at the moment, and usually within about a hundred feet or so. If I focus, I can get better range and more information."

Anko nodded as she listened to him. She could definitely use that to her advantage. With a psychic working with her, she could complete missions that would normally be impossible to pull off. What's more, she figured that when she was trying to teach him something, she could just have him look into her mind for the instructions and better details on how to do things.

"What else can you do?" she asked him curiously. Naruto grinned at her, causing her to groan slightly.

"Uh uh, I told you how my telepathy works, so what can you do? What are you going to teach me?" Naruto asked her with a smirk. "Come on, sharing is caring, right?"

"I'm going to cut you, brat," Anko growled as she pulled out a kunai.

"Oh, come on. What's first?" Naruto asked her eagerly.

"First, I'm going to cut your right cheek, maybe turn your whiskers into a grid. Then I'll cut your left one, then I'm thinking of moving onto your hamstrings. See you try to walk home afterwards," she growled at him. However, he could feel that she wasn't completely serious, so he didn't take her threats too seriously.

"Come on, Anko-sensei, what am I going to learn?" Naruto pushed her on this.

Anko growled at how ineffective her usual threats were on the blonde ball of energy. "_Damn psychic_," she thought to herself. She knew that Naruto was already following her orders when he winked at her in response.

"Fine. Shisui told me you two have been working on your own taijutsu style to compliment your preference of using a bow and arrow to fight, so I'm going to help you polish that up and get you to the point where you won't kill yourself or me in a real fight," Anko told him as she spun her kunai on her finger. "After that, well, we'll see. Now, what else can you do, brat?"

Naruto grinned at his victory. "Alright, alright. As you know, I'm really good with my bow, though I've put a lot of practice into other weapons. I rarely miss what I'm aiming at with anything I use. I'm not too bad with a tanto or kunai in close," he told her with a shrug. He had been trained by Shisui after all, and his preferred weapon was a tanto. "I also recently discovered that I can do something unique and cool. There's another energy inside me that I can use, though I haven't gotten too good at it yet."

"What do you mean? What can it do?" Anko asked him curiously. When she saw him grin wickedly, she suddenly got worried. When she saw his hand point towards her, that feeling got stronger.

Naruto focused on his psionic energy and sent it towards Anko as a mild shock. A thin bolt of blue energy shot from his fingers and nearly hit her in the stomach, though she easily dodged it. A powerful feeling of dread came over Naruto when he saw her glare at him.

"What's the big idea, brat? Attacking your sensei on your first day?" Anko snapped at him. She could feel that there was only a small amount of energy in that attack, but at the same time, it wasn't chakra based either, also Naruto hadn't used any hand seals to channel the energy. So whatever it was, it wasn't a jutsu and wasn't something she was familiar with.

"Hey, you wanted to see what I could do," Naruto said in his defense, holding up his hands in surrender.

Anko narrowed her eyes at him but had to grudgingly admit she did leave herself open to that one. Plus, she remembered training with Orochimaru, and she had done far worse in her attempts to even lay a single finger on him.

"Alright, brat, I'll give you that one," she grumbled before brightening suddenly. Now it was Naruto's turn to get a bad feeling. "Well, since you are so eager to get started, no time like the present. Time to work on your conditioning!"

"What?" Naruto yelped as she grabbed him and threw him towards a tree. He barely managed to twist in the air enough to land with his feet against the tree, sticking in place with his chakra. He looked at Anko who suddenly was holding several kunai in her hands.

"Time for dodging practice!" she said gleefully before throwing the kunai at him, one after another, causing Naruto to start dodging desperately in order to not get turned into a pin cushion.

Naruto ran frantically from the clearing, with a madly cackling Anko close behind him.

* * *

**And so the world turns. I'm going to nip this one in the bud and declare for all to see: NARUTO IS NOT USING SITH LIGHTNING! Ok? We good? Everyone clear on that? Great! **

**Now, if anyone is interested in becoming my beta, I would greatly appreciate another pair of eyes and a second opinion, as I am currently my own beta.**

**Please read and review!**


	6. A New Mentor

**Hey folks, sorry for the long delay in this latest chapter, but I went through some personal drama the last month and had little to no inspiration to write. Anyway, my inspiration showed up one day and slapped me in the face with some ideas, and so I've been working on those in my free time. I also got a beta to help me with my story, so while that helps me write a better story, that does add a slight delay to my posting.**

**I'm going to try to upload a chapter a week, but my life is still in flux. Anyway, shout out to x1tears1X, my new beta. Also, a big shout out to all those that gave me awesome reviews. Please keep it up as it helps me stay inspired. Ok, enough of me, on with the show!**

* * *

Naruto sighed as he shuddered in memory of the events of the day before. He had just left the Hokage's tower after spending some time filling out the paperwork needed to officially register him as a genin level ninja of Konoha. He was beyond happy that he no longer needed to go to the Academy anymore, yet he was also sad. While he would advance and become the ninja he was meant to be, he was also leaving behind all his friends, who would still need to continue at the Academy for another year.

Naruto found his feet taking him to the Yamanaka flower shop, where he figured he'd find Ino and her dad working, as classes had already let out for the day. He was an adult now, seeing as he was a registered ninja, and he needed to act like one and stop avoiding his best friend just because she made him uncomfortable with her focusing on the Uchiha in their class.

A bell rang as he entered the shop, the sound comforting him with its familiarity. However, the only person he saw in the shop was Inoichi, who was doing an inventory count. The older man looked over at Naruto with a smile when he saw the boy.

"Naruto, it's been a while. How have you been?" Inoichi asked as he placed his clipboard down and focused on the young blonde. Over the years, he had come to view Naruto as part of his family, and he was always glad to see the boy.

Naruto visibly brightened up as he walked closer to the only real father figure he'd had in his life. "That's actually why I'm here," he said excitedly as he leaned against the counter. He pulled out his hitai-ate and placed it on the counter. The light glinted off the freshly polished metal.

Inoichi looked at him with a frown as he noticed the hitai-ate and he was about to scold Naruto for stealing another ninja's hitai-ate, but then he thought about who he was talking to. Naruto was many things, but he wouldn't do that, which meant…

"They promoted you?" he asked as his eyes widened in surprise, as well as a little bit of fear for the boy. While it was normal for someone to be promoted early in times of war, it was almost unheard of in times of peace. The fact that Naruto of all people had gotten an early promotion was unexpected in the extreme, especially considering how many people still despised him for containing the Kyuubi.

"Yeah! Seems I really impressed the Hokage when I helped Shisui with Danzo, though I was just happy to get outta that alive," Naruto said with a wide grin as he slipped his hitai-ate back into his pocket. He still wanted to surprise Ino and didn't want her to see it too soon. "By the way, where's Ino? I don't sense her anywhere nearby."

"I have to say, Naruto, I'm proud of you. You've become a remarkable ninja already, and I look forward to seeing what you can do," Inoichi said as he ruffled Naruto's hair. When Naruto just glared at him, his blue eyes gleaming, Inoichi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, Ino said she was going to go shopping with one of her friends from class before coming home. I had thought she meant you, but…"

Naruto sighed and nodded his head sadly, his head dropping slightly. While that was something they used to do, they hadn't really hung out like that in months, and it looked like it wasn't likely going to happen any time soon as he was likely going to be very busy training with Anko.

Inoichi came around the counter and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder comfortingly before pulling the young boy into a hug. "Why don't you head towards the shopping district and see if you can find her? I bet she'll be just as excited for you as I am."

"Thanks, Inoichi," Naruto said as he pulled away. He gave the older man a wide smile and a thumbs up before dashing out the front door. Inoichi just laughed and gave the excited youth a wave goodbye.

Naruto headed towards the shopping section of town, keeping his senses open and searching for Ino. After getting there and looking around, ignoring all the dirty looks and sneered comments about him, he finally caught onto the feeling of her mind and used that to track her down. His range was slowly expanding, and he couldn't wait to see how far he could go with it.

After dashing around several crowds, using the rooftops when necessary, Naruto almost literally ran into Ino as he turned a corner where she was walking in his direction. "Whoa! Hey Ino! I've been looking all over for you," Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He was practically bouncing in place.

However, Ino was less than enthused about running into Naruto, especially as she had dropped a bag of clothes. "What is it, Naruto? I need to get home and get changed," she said with a frown as she bent down and grabbed the dropped bag before she headed off in the direction of her house.

"Cool, I'll walk with you," Naruto said happily, his hands behind his head as he walked. He had to force himself not to pull out his hitai-ate too soon and ruin the surprise.

"Whatever, just don't slow me down, I'm in a hurry," Ino said with a sigh and an eyeroll. She looked around to see if anyone was looking at them and she flinched when she saw a number of people staring at her walking with Naruto. Ino picked up her pace to get away from the people watching them and she was sure she could hear them start whispering and pointing at them.

"So, what's the big rush to get home?" Naruto asked curiously as he easily kept pace with Ino. He knew that people were watching them, but he didn't really care about that anymore. He knew why they didn't like him now, and he refused to let them get him down with their stupidity.

Ino looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Sasuke is supposed to be working on some big jutsu with his brother Itachi and I want to go cheer him on," she told him in a terse tone. She looked around and let out a sigh of relief as they had gotten clear of the shopping district and there weren't any people that were staring at them anymore.

"Oh, I guess that's cool and all," Naruto said blandly, just waiting for the moment to tell her the big news. He stuck his hands in his pockets, his right-hand curling around his hitai-ate.

"Cool? If Sasuke can pull off this jutsu, it'll mark him as an adult in his clan and that'll mean that he'll be able to start learning the more advanced techniques! He's so cool," Ino gushed, her eyes growing distant as she imagined Sasuke blowing out a huge fireball and then winking at her as the fireball turned into a heart.

"Hey, that reminds me!" Naruto said as he saw a good lead in. "I've got some cool news of my own!" He started to pull out his hitai-ate but stopped when Ino turned and glared at him.

"Oh, Naruto, I don't care about whatever prank you have planned, or whatever gossip you overheard by accident," Ino snapped at him as he broke her out of her daydream. "Can't you see that Sasuke is about to do something truly amazing? No other Uchiha his age is even close to being able to perform this jutsu and he almost has it mastered! He's a prodigy of his clan, just like his brother."

Naruto felt his heart drop as her obsession remained as strong as ever. He narrowed his eyes and couldn't stop a scoff from escaping. "Please, Itachi is good, amazing even, but he's got nothing on Shisui. Shisui is the best of the best in the Uchiha Clan," he told her, his pride forcing him to defend the man that had helped him so much over the years. He'd even seen Itachi and Shisui spar once and they were almost evenly matched.

"If he's so good, then why did he have to spend so long in the hospital after he got attacked? Hmm?" Ino said with a small sneer as she poked a hole in Naruto's argument. "Itachi and Sasuke never would have ended up in the hospital like that, they're just too good."

"Hey, it's not Shisui's fault! That Danzo creep ambushed him with like twenty guys!" Naruto exclaimed in defense of his hero. "And he still managed to survive and keep them from taking his eyes." Naruto had to give Ino the official version of the story, as the Hokage wanted to keep his involvement secret for as long as possible to protect him. So that meant that he couldn't tell Ino just how much he had helped Shisui.

"Whatever," Ino said with a scoff as she flipped her hair and started back towards her home. "Shisui is nothing compared to Itachi and Sasuke…just like you. You can't compete with Sasuke in class, so you wouldn't be able to compete with him in real life either. That's why I would rather hang out with him, or anyone else, instead of with you. Sasuke is gonna lead his clan one day, while you are just some Clan-less loser with no one to care about you except a few people who only deal with you because they pity you."

Naruto stopped in shock at hearing that, his heart breaking a little with each harsh word she said, and it wasn't just what she said verbally, but also what he was picking up from her mind and her emotions. She truly believed what she said, that he was nothing compared to Sasuke, that she didn't want anything to do with him. He had a brief glimpse into her mind and realized that all the times she had told him that she was too busy to hang out the last year, had just been excuses not to be seen with him. She had started to believe all the rumors that had been spread about him by the villagers, that he was worthless, that he would never amount to anything, that anyone hanging around him would be judged the same.

So, she started distancing herself from him, started hanging out with other friends more and with him less and less. And now, she had taken a kunai to his heart with her words. Tears formed in his eyes, though he refused to let them fall. "But I…" he started to say but was cut off by Ino. She wouldn't even let him get a word in in her hurry to get away from him.

"Go play ninja with someone else, Naruto. That's all you'll ever amount to after all. A pretend ninja," she said as she turned a corner, not bothering to look back at the heartbroken boy she left in her wake. His hitai-ate dropping to the ground from his limp fingers.

It took him several minutes to recover somewhat, and he slowly bent down and picked up his hitai-ate, wrapping it around his forehead and wiping his eyes of the tears that had formed with a soft sniffle. He turned the other direction and started walking, not bothering to care about where he was going. After a while, he slowly came back to his senses and found himself on top of the Hokage Monument, standing on the head of the Yondaime Hokage.

Naruto dropped to the ground and looked out over the whole of Konoha, his mind and emotions a mess. He still hadn't fully dealt with the lives he had taken before, and then this mess blows up in his face. In just a year, his entire world had been flipped, tossed around, and then pureed in a blender. He didn't know who he was anymore. Maybe Ino was right, maybe he would never amount to anything…but then again, he was only eleven and he had his whole life ahead of him.

Naruto pulled out a picture of his mother, Kushina, and looked at her with a sad smile. She had apparently given her life to protect him, according to the Hokage, and if he didn't do the absolute best he could, then he would be disrespecting her sacrifice. She was beautiful and full of life in the picture he had of her, and yet she had willingly given up everything for him, to make sure he had a future. She had loved him; he knew that with absolute certainty.

"I promise you mom, and whoever my dad was, I promise you both, that I won't ever give up or let others tell me who or what I am," he said with a watery smile as he watched the sunset, tears rolling down his cheeks as he made his vow. "I'll do my best to make you both proud of me."

Naruto stayed up there on the mountain until long after night fell, looking out over the village and watching the stars.

XxXxXxX

Naruto met with Anko the next day, still a bit down from what Ino had said, and not said, to him. It was enough that Anko remarked about it to him.

"Hey, brat, what's with the long face? Usually you're bouncing off the walls, but today you can't even smile," she said as she munched on a stick of dango. She swung her legs under her as she sat up on a tree branch above him.

"Usually I'm bouncing off the walls to avoid the kunai and senbon you throw at me," Naruto muttered as he sat down at the base of the tree. He yelped in pain as Anko threw the dango skewer in her hand at him, the stick stabbing into his leg. "Hey! Fine, if you gotta be so nosey, my oldest and first friend told me yesterday that she thinks I'm worthless, that I'll never amount to anything." He glared up at the older woman before looking back down at the ground, pulling the stick out of his leg absently.

"Well, boo-hoo," Anko said sarcastically as she dropped to the ground with barely a sound. "Want me to get you a blanket and a pacifier? Maybe a nice glass of warm milk? I certainly aint going to change your freaking diaper." She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "Alright, brat, listen up. The moment you put on that hitai-ate you became a soldier of Konoha, not some snot nosed brat that needs his hand held and someone to tell him he's special."

She poked him on his forehead protector. "So what if she thinks you aren't worth shit. That just goes to show how little she knows," she snapped at him. Naruto was staring at her wide eyed as she scolded him worse than he had been in ages. Plus, her emotions were hitting him hard too, all of them backing up her words and thoughts. "The freaking Hokage himself thought that you were a good enough ninja to be promoted without going through the last year of the Academy. You think he does that for just anyone? No! You think that your little friend knows better than the Hokage? You better believe she doesn't know anything! So, who are you gonna put your faith in? Huh? Some brat that is obsessed with the Uchiha? Or the leader of the entire village?"

Anko crossed her arms across her chest, incidentally enhancing her bust, as she stared Naruto down. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, when you put it that way, it does seem pretty silly," Naruto said with a nervous laugh.

"Good. Now, if we have to have this conversation again, blood is gonna be spilled, got it?" Anko said dangerously as she ran her finger along the edge of a kunai. Naruto nodded fervently, fully aware that she wasn't bluffing at the moment. "Well, now that that's settled, got some tests for you," she said happily as she pulled out a notebook from her jacket.

"Ah, man…I thought I was done with tests," Naruto whined in dismay as he kicked the ground in frustration.

"Not those sorts of test, brat!" Anko said as she smacked him on the head with her notebook. "After the Hokage asked me to train you, I went and did some research on what little is known about psychics, both fiction and non-fiction. And I gotta tell you, kid, there is a lot of mixed up messages being thrown around about psychic abilities. As I'm sure you know, there hasn't been a documented case of someone with your abilities ever. So, I'm pretty much throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks here, ok?"

Naruto nodded and moved a step away from Anko in case she decided to hit him again, though he knew she could throw things at him with deadly accuracy, so it didn't help too much. "So, what first?" he asked, biting his lip in anticipation.

Anko opened her notebook to a page and started listing things off. "Ok, so we got empathy and telepathy already shown and developed. Just need more practice and range on that," she said as she made a tick mark on the page. "Hokage-sama told me that you found Shisui by following 'echoes'?"

"Yeah, I came across a clearing in the woods and saw a mental echo of him getting ambushed in the recent past and followed the echoes until I found him," Naruto told her with a shrug. He didn't really understand the ability but figured it could possibly be kinda cool in some ways.

Anko looked at him over her book with a deadpan expression. "Brat, that's called psychometry, and it means you have the ability to look into an object or location's past and see what happened to it. We are definitely gonna be working on that," she told him with a shake of her head as she made a few notes in her book.

"Why? What's so cool about that?" he asked her, not really understanding why she thought it was so important. It was pretty much just like watching a movie or something, and it wasn't always interesting to him about what was going on.

"Kid, imagine if you are sent to find out what happened to someone. A normal person has to go to the location, search for clues, spend hours, days, or weeks investigating everything that happened, and hopefully figure out the truth," Anko told him seriously, her hand twitching as she fought the urge to stab him with her pen. "With you, all you gotta do is show up, feel out the echo, and then bam! You know just what happened and you can cut out tons of the boring bullshit and maybe save someone's life or avenge them before the bad guy gets away."

Naruto blinked in surprise as he had never thought of it that way. "Oh. I, uh, I guess that's pretty cool after all," he said meekly. As she had been explaining it to him, she had been thinking in her mind about similar situations she had personally dealt with that would have turned out differently had she been able to do what he could. As he had found out himself, that ability could save lives.

"Moving on," Anko said with a sigh, resisting the urge to smack the blonde boy. "Next we got…telekinesis. That's always showing up in the stories about psychics. The ability to move things with just your mind," she explained to him.

"Oh, kinda like what I do with my arrows!" Naruto exclaimed as his eye widened a little, happy to be able to add something to the discussion.

"Yeah, exactly. Now, Shisui and Hawk both say you almost never miss with your arrows, yet your accuracy with your kunai and shuriken aren't as good. So what gives, brat?" Anko said curiously. She purposely tried to call him a brat every chance she could as she knew it bothered him and his eye twitched when she did.

Naruto considered his words carefully. "Well, when I make a shot with my bow, I focus on the arrow and where it's going and when it's released, I can just 'feel' it and I know whether it's gonna hit or not. If I know it's gonna miss, I try and nudge it with my mind," he told her after a minute. "It's hard to explain, it's just something I do, and I don't really think about it."

Anko frowned in thought and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "And you don't have that same feeling with your kunai?"

"Well, generally when I'm throwing kunai, I do it a lot faster than when I shoot an arrow. I take less time to prepare, plus my target is usually a lot closer," he told her with a shrug. His accuracy with his kunai and shuriken was still really good, almost as good as Sasuke's, and loads better than anyone else in their class.

Anko put away her notebook and held up a kunai, placing it flat on her palm and holding it slightly away from her body. "Ok, brat, seems this is an important skill that you have been neglecting. Time to change that," she told him sternly. "I want you to nudge the kunai, got it?"

Naruto gave her a confused look before focusing on the kunai, trying to replicate the feeling he got with his arrows. But he was having trouble as with the arrows he was touching them, feeling them with his senses as well as his mind. The kunai wasn't just much further away, it was being held by someone else. It was as if it didn't even exist to his senses, except for sight.

Naruto stared at the kunai, trying desperately to move it, to get it to do anything. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and he could feel his face flush with exertion from the strain. He was about to give up when he felt a flicker of sensation and saw the kunai shift slightly as his mind brushed against it. He focused on that feeling, blocking out everything except for trying to repeat that same sensation. His entire focus and will were thrown into moving the kunai and with a wordless roar of effort, he felt that same sensation flare inside his mind and the kunai shot from Anko's hand and buried itself into a tree right up to the ring at the end of the kunai.

Naruto collapsed to his knees as he felt utterly drained, and he had to blink away stars that appeared in his vision after straining his mind so hard. "That…was tough," he muttered tiredly, fighting the urge to just fall asleep. He blinked a few times and the tiredness he was feeling started to fade quickly.

Anko looked at him, then to her now empty hand, and then to the small ring of metal sticking out of the tree, all that could be seen of the kunai. "Damn, kid. I just asked you to move it, not to send it into the next country," she muttered in surprise. Ideas started to form in her mind of things that Naruto would be able to do eventually, and an evil grin formed on her face. Unfortunately for Naruto, he was too tired and distracted to pick up these thoughts, or else he would have been very scared at what lay in his future.

"I couldn't get a feel for it, not like I could with an arrow," Naruto told her as he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Maybe if I had been holding it, it would have been easier, but with you holding the kunai, I had nothing to get a feel for it with. I guess maybe I used a little too much power," he said sheepishly.

Anko nodded and took out her notebook and made a few notes. She then shut it and put it away. "Ok, the next two are kinda odd and hard to test so just gonna ask you if you've ever had anything like them happen to you," Anko said with an upbeat tone. Naruto just sighed and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Ok, have you ever seen dead people or seen the future?"

Naruto just gave her a blank look. "No, and no. I didn't even think those were possible," he told her blandly, though he gave a small shiver at the thought of seeing dead people.

"Well, like I said, hard to test, but I'll figure something out. Now, the last one on my list, and I'm sure I missed something, I only had a couple days to prepare, was something called pyrokinesis. It means you can control fire," Anko told him helpfully, though her smirk and her emotions revealed how much she was enjoying this.

Naruto actually started grinning at the thought. "Wait, you mean control fire with just my mind? That would be awesome! Can you imagine someone trying to use a katon jutsu against me and then I just turn it around on them? That would be so freaking cool!" Naruto just about shouted in excitement. He couldn't wait to try that particular ability and he really hoped he had it.

Anko just sighed and added a few more notes to her book. "Well, like I said, that does it for my list, but I can tell we have a lot of work to do ahead of us…"

"Wait, what about my other ability?" Naruto asked her, cutting her off mid-sentence, earning him a glare from her. "You know, the one where I almost shocked you?"

"Hmm, yeah…I had forgotten about that," Anko said as she scratched her chin with her pen. "Well, I didn't read anything about that, but we can work on that too. If you can use that energy as an attack, maybe you can do other things with it." She tried not to be too encouraging in case nothing came of it.

She shut her notebook with a snap and tucked it away in her coat pocket. "Ok, brat. You look a little tired, so we aren't going to start training right now," she told him, grinning at his sigh of relief, which caused him to tense up as he caught what she was thinking. As he tried to make a run for it, she snagged him by the back of his shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Yup! No apprentice of mine is gonna go around looking like you do right now," she told him happily as she started dragging him back into town and towards the shopping district. "You are getting a new wardrobe, kid. I hope you brought your wallet as I aint paying."

XxXxXxX

Naruto glared at Anko as he tugged at his new shirt. He hadn't had too much in the way of choices as she pretty much handed him clothes and told him to go change. He had put his foot down on a few things, but overall, he just went with her choices. In the end, he ended up with an armored mesh shirt like hers, with a black hooded jacket that was made of some kind of reinforced fabric that was supposed to be very durable yet easy to clean. The jacket alone cost most of his money, but he still had enough for multiple shirts as well as a few new pants that were made of a similar fabric to his jacket but were much less expensive. Wrapping off the look was a new pair of black combat boots, though when he found that they cost more than he had with him, he was happily going to put them back. However, Anko saw him doing that and marched him up to the counter with them. She 'loaned' him the money needed to get them, saying that she'd make sure he paid her back as he needed them to complete his new look. The only thing he was able to get that he wanted, was a dark orange belt, as they didn't have anything brighter that was in orange, his favorite color.

While he liked blue, considering that he had blue crystals all over his bedroom and had one hanging around his neck, there was just something about orange that called to him. But the only thing orange he could afford after Anko's purchases using his money was the belt, and even she had to admit that it went well with his new outfit. The only problem had been when they went to check out. The clerk had taken one look at Naruto and threatened to call the police if they didn't leave. Naruto had been willing to go with it, he wasn't looking to cause trouble, but Anko wasn't having any of it.

By the time she was done with the clerk, not only had she gotten an apology from him, but they had gotten a nice discount as well.

So, there he was, his clothes fresh off the rack, and they were back at the training ground they had been at before. Naruto was still pouting as he itched absently from his new clothes. "I liked my clothes," he muttered crossly.

"Well those were the clothes of an Academy student, and guess what you aren't anymore," Anko said cheerfully, continuing on without letting him reply. "That's right, you aren't an Academy student now, you're a real ninja, so it's time you looked like one. Now that you're recovered, it's time to work on your training."

Naruto just let out a low groan as he followed behind his crazy sensei. He had no idea that being an actual ninja would be so exhausting, and they hadn't even gone on an actual mission yet. But he did as he was told and he knew that she wouldn't lead him wrong, especially after what he had managed to gleam from her mind earlier.

"So, Anko-sensei," he spoke up as they got to a clearing and she started him on warm up exercises to help break in the new clothes. "When were you planning on telling me that you were bribed into training me?"

Anko actually almost tripped from his question and turned to look at him in shock. "You did tell me to scan other people's minds, including your own," he reminded her.

Letting out a long sigh, Anko motioned for him to keep stretching. "Well, to be honest, I had hoped not to have to tell you, but since you dug a bit deeper than I had thought you would, I'll be straight with you," she told him as she leaned against a tree and threw senbon at him randomly to test his reflexes. "As you may or may not know, I'm not exactly the most trusted person in Konoha, even though I've been a loyal ninja for years and have done a lot of good around here. No one cares due to who my sensei was: Orochimaru, the traitor."

She sighed and threw another senbon at him, almost nailing him in the leg as he dodged it. "Anyway, due to him training me, people tend to lump me in with him and so I've been stuck as a Tokubetsu Jounin for years, despite me being good enough for a promotion to full Jounin. When the Hokage asked me to train you, yeah, he said that when I get you to Chuunin, he'll make sure I get promoted as well."

"So, is that the only reason you decided to train me?" Naruto asked as he ducked under another senbon and immediately dodged another two by rolling to the left.

"Nah, you impressed me that first time we met," she told him with an absent wave of her hand. "Figured that if the Hokage thought you learning from me was a good idea, then maybe there was something special about you. The promotion is just a bonus."

Naruto nodded as that was along what he had figured from his glimpse into her mind earlier.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," she said with a grin that sent chills down his spine, "I want you to hit me…if you can."

Naruto gulped as he took a loose stance as she pulled out a kunai and lovingly caressed it. Before he could grab his bow from where it was leaning against a tree along with his quiver, Anko was on him, sending a fist at his face. As he ducked under the strike, he was forced to dive away as she spun around and slashed at him with her kunai.

Naruto frantically backpedaled away from his teacher and unrelenting attacks. He had a sudden glimpse of her next attack and moved just before she did, dodging around her slash and sending a quick kick towards her open stomach. However, her free hand flashed through the air and grabbed his leg, and with a vicious grin, she threw him across the clearing.

"Not bad, brat, but not good enough," Anko said with a laugh. She threw her kunai at him, causing him to roll away and jump to his feet.

"It's not fair, you're too fast!" Naruto protested as he rapidly looked around for anything that could help him.

"Too bad, little boy. Guess you'll just have to get faster," Anko said with no sympathy as he rushed at him and delivered a brutal two punch combo to his sides before snapping his head back with a kick. Naruto hit the ground hard, but he had the presence of mind to roll away as a knee impacted right where his stomach had been seconds before.

Naruto got to his feet and wiped away a thin trail of blood from where he had bitten his lip from her kick. But he had barely done that when Anko was right in front of him and raining blows on his body. He put his hands up to protect his face, but she ignored that and hit him in multiple tender spots, choosing her strikes carefully to do maximum pain but with minimum damage. One strike was to his groin, and when he clutched himself in pain, she struck him in the face and throat in punishment. After several more seconds of striking him, Anko stepped back and let him collapse to the ground.

"Bah, if that's the best you can do, maybe I shouldn't waste my time and just send you back to the Academy," Anko said scathingly. She headed away from him with a disgusted look on her face.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted; his voice hoarse from an earlier strike to the throat as he was falling to the ground. "I'm not done yet!" He struggled to his feet, barely able to stand through the massive pain his body was feeling.

"Look at you, you're one strong breeze away from falling on your ass. It's over," Anko scoffed, though she stopped and turned to look at him over her shoulder.

Naruto couldn't disagree with her, but his eyes caught the gleam of reflected sunlight off the kunai Anko had thrown at him earlier, it being lodged in the ground behind her, and he had an idea. He held his hand out towards her, focusing all his might on trying to summon the kunai to him.

"What, are you trying to choke me with your mind? Please, don't be even more of an idiot than normal," Anko said with an eye roll as she turned to face him.

Naruto ignored her words and used all the tricks he had learned over the years from Inoichi to focus past the pain, to ignore it in favor of his task. His eyes narrowed as he saw the kunai move slightly and grinned as his eyes shifted up to look at Anko. He gave her a foxy grin as with a surge of mental effort, he pulled the kunai from the ground. The kunai flew to his hand, but catching it proved to be the last straw and he fell to the ground in a heap. The last thing he saw before he passed out was a thin line of blood on the edge of the kunai.

XxXxXxX

When Naruto woke up later, he found that he had been moved into the shade of one of the trees the bordered the clearing, and his jacket had been rolled up to provide a pillow for him. He groaned in pain as he slowly sat up, though he noticed that the pain was much less than it was before he passed out.

"I was wondering when you would wake up, lazybones," Anko said smugly as she munched on a stick of dango. Naruto's eyes were immediately drawn to a bandage that wrapped around her left leg as she sat nearby him. "You took too long to remember about that kunai, brat. We're gonna need to work on your situational awareness."

"You planned that from the beginning?" Naruto asked in surprise as he scooted back against the tree. "Then why did you beat me up so much?"

"Cause it was fun," Anko replied with a shrug. "Plus, you needed some toughening up. Still do." She finished off the dango and tossed the stick away nonchalantly. "Not to mention it was a good chance to show you personally my style of taijutsu. If I have to fight someone, I go for their vital and weak points. Forget going toe to toe with someone, trading punches until someone loses. I'd rather put them down hard and fast before they know what's happening all while avoiding anything they send at me."

Naruto nodded as he gingerly touched the spots she had hit him. If she had been holding a weapon, each blow would have hit something vital. Some would have been instant kill shots, while others would have slowed him down or caused him to slowly bleed to death. "I see."

Anko grinned at him before lifting herself of the ground with her hands, keeping her legs crossed, before slowly unfolding her legs and rotating her body so that her face was almost touching the ground. She then moved into a handstand before letting her feet fall over her head until they touched the ground before shifting her weight onto her feet and standing up. It was a ridiculous and impractical way to stand up, but she had done it for one unspoken purpose.

"You did that to show me how flexible you are…" Naruto said in a deadpan voice, though the furious blush on his face showed how much he had enjoyed that display.

"Exactly!" Anko told him with a wink when she saw his blushing face. "And guess what, you'll be just as flexible by the time I'm done with you. You heal fast, but why bother even getting hit in the first place when you can just dodge the attack? When we mix my Snake style with your bojutsu and kyūjutsu, if anyone manages to get past your arrows, thinking that they'll have an easier time fighting you up close like most ranged fighters, you'll be able to make them pay for their mistakes."

Anko then turned serious. "Now, you currently have one major flaw that I highlighted in our spar," she said, ignoring his scoff at her calling his beating a 'spar'. "In case you weren't paying attention, without your bow or any of the weapons you've gotten used to, you were useless. You've spent so much time focusing on your weapon skills, that you've forgotten to develop your unarmed taijutsu skills. That's gonna be the first thing I'm working with you on for taijutsu."

Naruto sighed and laid back on the ground. He had a very strong feeling that things were going to suck for him for a long while. He winced as Anko 'lightly' kicked him in the side. "Come on, lazy bones. We're wasting daylight here," she told him cheerfully.

* * *

**Another chapter done, and things are looking up for our blonde hero. His new mentor is taking her job seriously, unlike a certain silver haired cyclops. We have a good year before the rest of his old class graduates, and that's a year of cool new experiences for Naruto.**

**Ok, I'm just going to put out that I will try to keep any bashing to a reasonable and justifiable amount. There are several characters that I just do not like, one of which is Sasuke. He will be made fun of, and unless I change my mind, he probably won't be a very pleasant person. That being said, one of my inspirations is 'Better Left Unsaid', an amazing story and I highly recommend reading it if you haven't. And in that fic, Sasuke is actually a productive and valuable member of the village...though he's still an ass. But that's ok! Also...Sakura fans, be warned, she's another one I'm not crazy about and neither she nor Hinata will be hooking up with Naruto...ever.**

**But, as I said, I will be keeping any 'bashing' to justifiable levels. Anyway, please read and review, as I said, it helps keep me inspired.**


	7. A New Adventure

**Sorry for not updating this story in ages. I hit a major writer's block with this one, and I've had tons of other story ideas floating around in my head. I posted one of them which helped free up some space in my mind. I've also been working a lot and recently started a new job that takes a lot of my time. Anyway, this chapter has some filler concerning other characters, but still helps push the story along.**

**On another note, if anyone wants to help me out with ideas, feel free to leave any good ideas for the story in a review or PM me. Please make sure they fit with the direction I've been working on for this one if you do.**

* * *

Iruka sighed as he marked another homework assignment from his class. While he was very grateful for the Hokage giving him the chance to teach, especially as he had learned to greatly value the bonds he had forged with the children he taught and all that he had learned, he really didn't like the other side of the job…paperwork. Having to grade papers, plan lessons, deal with reports to the Academy all in addition to his other duties as a chuunin, it was enough to make him want to scream at times.

"Having fun, Iruka?" came a familiar voice as Iruka was organizing his papers.

Iruka looked up in pleased surprise to find his old friend Mizuki leaning against the door to his office. "Mizuki! What are you doing here?" he asked happily as he abandoned his paperwork to greet his old friend. "Last I heard you were leading a squad on the border of Rice Country."

Mizuki grimaced as he embraced Iruka as a brother, before stepping back. "I was," he replied with a shrug. "However, there was an incident and I lost a member of my team. So, I've been reassigned while T&I review the mission and what happened."

"I see. How unfortunate for you," Iruka said sincerely. He had known Mizuki since they were both in the Academy together and he was familiar with his friend's goals to make something of himself. In fact, he could see a lot of similarities between Mizuki and Naruto, though there were far more differences. "So where have you been reassigned to?"

Mizuki just smirked and shrugged. "Right here, actually. You're looking at your teaching assistant for next term," the reassigned chuunin said with a grimace at the punishment.

Iruka laughed as pulled his friend into the room. "Oh, come on. It may seem bad, but I've grown to really like this job. I get the chance to help the next generation of shinobi and influence them at the most crucial time of their careers. It's a great honor to be here, you'll see."

Mizuki just rolled his eyes at his friend's naivety. His chances at greatness were out in the real world, doing missions and getting greater renown and power, not sitting useless in a classroom teaching snot nosed brats how to hold a kunai. "So, how has it been teaching the demon? Have you had any trouble from it?"

Iruka paused while shuffling some paperwork he was going to give to his friend to go over to introduce him to the ins and outs of teaching. "I would rather you not talk about Naruto that way, Mizuki," Iruka said evenly as he turned to give his friend an steely eyed look. "Besides the fact that there is a law against doing so, Naruto has shown that he is not the beast he carries within him. He has become a fine shinobi and a worthy legacy of the Fourth."

Mizuki was shocked by Iruka's defense of the boy. Obviously there was more to the situation and considering that he had agreed to help Orochimaru gather information from Konoha, this would be a very good place to start. "I'm sorry, Iruka. I suppose that there is a lot I don't know. How about I treat you to dinner and you can tell me more about teaching and…the boy?" He tried but couldn't hep by grimace at being nice about the demon brat.

Iruka sighed and grabbed his coat along with some papers. "Alright, but it might take a while. Let's go," he said as he led his friend out of the Academy.

XxXxXxX

The next day found Iruka meeting Mizuki at the Academy, both men nursing a slight hangover from their dinner the previous evening. Mizuki waited by the door as he watched Iruka bring his unruly class to order.

"Alright, settle down," Iruka said firmly, getting most of his students' attention, though the young Kiba Inuzuka wasn't paying attention. "I SAID SETTLE DOWN!" Iruka shouted right next to the boy, causing him to jump in his seat, banging his knees on the underside of his desk and start cursing. "Detention after class, Kiba," Iruka said with a smirk as he walked back to the front, ignoring the glare the young boy was giving him with practiced ease.

As Iruka went about bringing the chaos that was his class to some order, Mizuki thought back to their discussion last night over beers.

"_I still don't get it," Mizuki said with a frown as the bartender refilled their drinks. "How can you defend the beast after what it took from you?"_

_Iruka sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, if Naruto was actually the beast that he carries, I wouldn't be able to defend him as the entire village wouldn't exist, not after all they've done to him. Just because you seal a kunai into a scroll, that doesn't make the scroll the kunai. That boy has had more hardships and grief than most ninja three times his age," he told his friend before taking a long drink from his refilled glass. "Naruto has risen to the challenge and become a fine shinobi, and that's without even considering his curse or his other gifts."_

_Mizuki looked at Iruka in confusion. "What do you mean 'gifts'? And you talk about him as if he's already a ninja. Isn't he still in the Academy?"_

_Iruka let out a laugh and set his beer down before he spilled it. "Can't say anything about his gifts. It's pretty much a Clan secret for him. As for the rest, kid got himself promoted to genin by saving the life of another ninja and showing the Hokage that he deserved it. He's a true shinobi, not like that Uchiha brat," Iruka muttered darkly, the alcohol affecting him at this point. "That little brat has no idea what being a true shinobi is about. He thinks that just cause he's an Uchiha that he can do whatever he wants and everything will be handed to him. Everything that Naruto has, he earned."_

_Mizuki just nodded along, not really caring anymore as Iruka had already given him far more than he imagined about one of the targets that Orochimaru had wanted him to keep an eye on._

The two men had stayed up late drinking and catching up, and now Mizuki was having the chance to see how his friend handled his class. He brought his attention back to the present as Iruka started handing out packets of paper to each student.

"You are all about to go into your summer break, your last break before you finish your last year in the Academy. Your last year will be your hardest so I expect you all to study hard over the break and make sure you practice all your skills so that…"

"Sensei?" a timid voice called out, interrupting Irkua from his preplanned speech. He was so shocked it took him a moment to realize that it had been the shy Hyuga heiress Hinata that had spoken.

"Yes, Hinata? What is it?" Iruka asked curiously.

"Sensei, Naruto hasn't been to class for a while, and no one knows what happened to him," she said timidly, poking her fingers together nervously. It had taken a full week for her to work up the nerve to speak up in class. "Can you tell us what happened to him?"

Iruka smiled softly and shook his head in the negative. "I'm sorry, Hinata, but Naruto is no longer a student at the Academy. That's why he hasn't been to class in some time. However, if you want more details, only the Hokage and Naruto himself can tell you why."

This caused whispers and murmurs to break out at the unexpected news. Several of the girls immediately turned to Ino, Sakura leading the group. "Did you know about that, Ino?" Sakura asked curiously.

Ino had paled slightly at learning that Naruto had apparently dropped out. She knew how much being a ninja meant to him. A small part of her wondered if he had dropped out because of what she had told him. Guilt ate at her, but she pushed it aside and pretending that she didn't care. "Know what? That Naruto was a wannabe ninja that had no chance of succeeding and thus dropped out? No, I'm not friends with him anymore, so this is the first I've heard about it."

The girls around her shared an uneasy look. They knew that the two friends had been drifting apart, but that Ino showed so little care about one of her oldest friends was slightly unnerving to them.

"Class…class…..QUIET!" Iruka shouted, gaining total silence as he gave them an annoyed look. "You will have all the time to discuss this AFTER class, and then a full summer. Until then we have classwork to do." Mikuzi gave a small cough and a smirk. "Oh, this is my friend Mizuki-sensei. He will be assisting me over the summer and next school year. I expect you all to give him the same respect you give me."

Mizuki gave the class a small bow and a smile. However, there was a student that wasn't paying any attention to any of this. Young Hinata was shocked and heartbroken that her crush had left the school. But it didn't make any sense to her. She knew that Naruto would never quit, that was one of the things she liked the most about him. He never gave up and he always succeeded at the things he did. So why wouldn't he be in class anymore. She spent the rest of the class thinking about it, and when the Academy let out for the summer, she slowly made her way back to the Hyuga compound, clutching the packet of papers Iruka had handed out to her chest.

"Well, well, look at what we have here, a lost little Hyuga," a voice from behind her startled Hinata as she quickly turned around, almost losing her balance in surprise. She looked up to see two girls and a boy from her class. She took a step back in fear as she recognized them as some of those that had teased her for years in class, though they had usually left her alone outside the Academy. That they were bothering her now scared her more than she would like to admit.

"Wh-what do you want?" she said as she took another step backwards.

"We saw how much finding out that Naruto dropping out affected you, and we wanted to make sure you were alright," the lead girl said with false sincerity. However, she shared a grin with the other two that showed that their intentions were anything but benevolent.

Hinata couldn't help flushing in embarrassment as well as anger. "Naruto would never drop out," she said, though she quickly looked away after her outburst.

"Oh, does someone have a little crush on the failure? Well, I guess that makes sense for failures to stick together," the boy said with a sneer. He walked up to Hinata and gave her a firm shove, causing her to stumble backwards and fall to the ground with a yelp of pain. "Why don't you follow his example and quit? You'll never be a real ninja, you're too weak!"

The other kids laughed as Hinata's eyes started to tear up in pain and shame. She knew they were right; she wasn't strong like her father wanted her to be. She wouldn't stand a chance in the real world. But she also didn't want to quit and let her family down either. She just didn't know what to do.

"Leave her alone!" came a familiar voice from nearby. Hinata looked up in happy surprise as Naruto dropped down from the roof of the building next to them. She blushed as she saw the changes to his outfit which made him look even more handsome than she had thought he already was.

Naruto looked from Hinata to the three bullies with a glare. He had been on his way back to his apartment after training with Anko when he had caught the thoughts of the bullies and he had immediately made a beeline towards them. He shifted into an aggressive stance and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"I suggest you three beat it, or else I'll have to remind you the hard way that none of you have ever beaten me in a spar…when I was holding back."

The three would be bullies gulped and shared a look before they turned tail and hurried away. They hadn't expected to meet any sort of resistance and their courage, if it could be called that, quickly fled when faced with someone not afraid to fight back. Naruto scoffed in disgust as he turned back to Hinata.

"You ok, Hinata? They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked as he offered her his hand to pull her to her feet.

Hinata blushed a bright red and was barely able to manage to take his hand. She had never been this close to her crush and it was nearly overwhelming to her young mind. "Ano, I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Thank you," she said softly as he pulled her to her feet with a smile.

"Ah, no need to be so formal, Hinata," Naruto told her as he rubbed the back of his neck with a bright smile. "I'm just glad I could help." He started to turn to head off, being really in the mood for ramen now and deciding to go indulge in his addiction before heading home.

"Wait, Naruto," Hinata blurted out as she saw him moving to leave. Her blush deepened even further as Naruto stopped and gave her a curious look, his attention fully on her once more. She stuttered and gulped as she struggled to say what she wanted to say.

"What is it, Hinata? Are you sure you're alright? Your face is really red," Naruto said in confusion.

"I…I…" Hinata stuttered as she hid her face behind some of her hair. Finally, she took a deep breath and peek up at him. "I heard today that you…you aren't in the Academy anymore," she said so softly that Naruto barely heard her. "You…you didn't drop out…did you?"

Naruto had to pause for a moment as he tried to figure out what she meant, cheating a bit by peaking into her mind, before he let out a chuckle and giving her a charming smile.

"Nah, I didn't drop out, Hinata. Reason you haven't seen me in class is cause I got promoted to being a genin already. I did something really cool and the Old Man decided that I had shown I was ready," he told her with a shrug. He couldn't give details, but that didn't mean he couldn't give generic info of what happened.

Hinata stared at him in wonder. She didn't doubt what he said for an instant, knowing in her heart that he was telling the truth. But she felt another stab of shame as she knew that she would never be able to reach his level, especially as he was so far ahead of her to begin with. But through her doubt, she felt a sliver of resolve settle within her. She might never be on his level, but she would do her best to not be left behind and to be able to one day stand beside him with her head held up.

"Hey, Hinata, how's about I walk you home, ok?" Naruto said, interrupting her mental process very effectively. "Don't want those losers coming back to bother ya, after all."

Hinata's blush, which had faded a bit, returned full force, but she hesitantly nodded and smiled shyly as Naruto walked next to her as they headed to the Hyuga compound together.

Neither one noticed a pair of blue eyes watching them from a distance, guilt and sadness in them before turning away and heading in the opposite direction.

XxXxXxX

An old man walked through an abandoned temple with two much younger men walking behind him, his cane tapping on the ground with every step he took. Danzo Shimura had seen better days, his flight from his home had taken a toll on him as his very essence seemed to be bearing a heavy burden. He hadn't lost his resolve, however, and he still had many tricks up his sleeves to regain his previous power and standing, and perhaps increase it to the point that he sat at the very desk occupied by his former friend Sarutobi.

In fact, the reason for him being in an abandoned temple was that he was seeking to take advantage of one of his many resources that he had cultivated over his long life, most of which were highly irregular and some walked the line of treason, though he saw things differently than lesser men. What some saw as treason, he saw as being willing to do what was necessary for the greater good.

"My, how the mighty have fallen," came an amused and silky voice from the shadows.

However, even he realized that this man he had come to see was a being that even he couldn't justify as being anything other than a treasonous monster, a dangerous snake in the grass that was a danger to the great tree of Konoha. But even monsters had their uses, and Danzo had need of this one.

"Orochimaru," Danzo said evenly as he turned his gaze to the former Konoha ninja. While he had no doubt that in a straight fight, he would be able to defeat the traitorous Sannin, it would be costly and he would likely not survive long afterwards. However, Orochimaru never fought fair and a fight with him was something that the old war hawk sought to avoid.

"A little bird told me that you have fallen on hard times," Orochimaru said as he strode from the shadows, an amused grin on his face, though not the face he had been born with. "Such a shame, to have been driven from one's home, leaving behind all their power, their resources…their worth."

Danzo said nothing, knowing that Orochimaru was referring to both of them with that. He stood silent, his head held high as he gazed at the Snake Sannin with an even look.

"Why have you come here, old man? Your plots have failed and you have nothing I desire with which to gain my protection and aid."

Danzo arched a brow as his bodyguards stiffened as figures melted from the shadows to surround them, cutting off all escape routes.

"I came to reestablish our previous arraignment," Danzo told him evenly, not at all intimidated by Orochimaru's show of force.

For the first time in a very long time, Orochimaru let out a genuine laugh of amusement. It quickly subsided as he saw that Danzo was serious and he narrowed his eyes dangerously as he stepped closer to the old ninja.

"You dare come to my territory and presume to seek an alliance with me? You have nothing, Danzo! Why should I waste my time helping you when there is no benefit to me?"

Danzo ignored the rising danger and reached slowly into a pouch at his side and withdrew a small blue crystal and tossed it to Orochimaru. The Sannin caught the crystal negligently and examined it curiously. "And what is this supposed to be?"

"The demon container has worn a crystal pendent made from that crystal for years. I have reason to believe that it is the cause of his unique abilities which have allowed him to become something beyond a simple jinchuriki," Danzo explained casually. Over years of surveillance and subterfuge, Danzo had been able to find out many things that Sarutobi had sought to keep from him, such as the fact that Naruto had gifts beyond those expected of someone in his position, including the ability to read minds. He had discounted the boy as a threat based on those abilities, seeing as while the Yamanaka were useful, they weren't a truly dangerous clan on their own. One of the few times he had been so completely wrong.

Despite his outwardly calm appearance, Orochimaru's curiosity was peaked. "What sort of abilities?"

"The boy can read minds, more reliably than a Yamanaka and without the use of chakra," Danzo told him casually.

Orochimaru swallowed his suddenly dry mouth as possibilities flooded his mind at what he could do with those same abilities. He wouldn't need a Sharingan as he could simply take the knowledge of ninjutsu from someone's mind. He looked at the crystal more carefully, trying to sense anything unusual about it.

"When I was forced from Konoha, I found the cave the brat had gotten his crystal from and took what I found there," Danzo said with a satisfied smirk.

"I suppose you left nothing for the boy to return to?"

"You would suppose correct," Danzo said with a chuckle. What remained unsaid was that there was nothing for Orochimaru to find either, which meant that Danzo controlled his access to the crystals, giving him leverage over the younger man.

"Very well," Orochimaru said eventually as he considered his options. "I will run some tests on this sample and should I find something that is of use to me, our arraignment will be resumed and you shall have my resources." He snapped his fingers and his ninja disappeared into the shadows once more. "I'll be in touch."

Danzo watched as Orochimaru vanished into the shadows himself. He hated that he had been pushed into reaching out to someone who was a known enemy of his home, but it was for the greater good. Only with him protecting Konoha could it be truly safe, and he would do whatever it took to return to power within the walls of his village. With a shake of his head, Danzo made his way out of the temple and back to where he had left those that had followed him from Konoha.

XxXxXxX

Anko sat down at her usual spot at the best dango shop in the village. Without even having to say a thing, a plate of dango was placed before her along with a jug of sake and a single cup. She gave the owner a sultry smile as she reached for her first stick of dango. However, when she only grabbed air, she looked down with a frown and saw that she had missed the stick, which was very unusual. She reached for the stick of delicious goodness again and this time she saw the plate move half an inch away.

"Brat!" Anko growled out dangerously as she looked around with flashing eyes. She spotted a sliver of blonde hair and threw a kunai at it, causing it to drop and vanish with a childish laugh. She glared around at the few people that were giving her odd looks. "What are you looking at?" With that, people decided to ignore the crazy ninja lady.

"That wasn't very nice, Anko-sensei," Naruto said from next to her, a satisfied smirk on his face. He squeaked in surprise as she moved faster than he could read her intentions and grabbed him by the neck and pulled him nose to nose with her.

"Don't you EVER mess with my dango again, brat. Got it?" Anko hissed, so very similar to her summons. Naruto nodded frantically before she let him go.

"Geez, so touchy," Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his neck.

"How would you react if I messed with your ramen?" Anko asked snidely as she picked up one of her sticks of dango and took a large bite, smiling in happiness.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the thought of someone messing with his ramen. "Point made," he admitted with a sigh. He then shrugged and looked at her eagerly. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Anko grumbled at having her meal interrupted. It was quickly becoming her least favorite aspect of training him. She glared at him and sighed before finishing her meal, letting the boy stew with impatience.

"Well, I figured that you don't want to deal with D-Rank missions, correct?" Anko asked rhetorically.

Naruto growled in response, having picked up the 'secret' of D-Rank missions from the many minds around the village. There was no way in hell he wanted to go around doing chores for other people!

"Didn't think so," Anko said with a laugh. "Well, I've been wanting to get out of the village, so we're gonna go to the Hokage tower for a C-Rank or B-Rank and see what looks good."

Naruto smiled happily and jumped to his feet. "Well, let's go!"

Anko chuckled and dropped some money down for her dango and sake before heading out of the shop. Naruto followed behind her closely as they walked to the tower. Anko purposely walked slowly, stopping every so often to look at something that 'interested' her. She could tell how annoyed this made Naruto and she couldn't hide a grin as she saw his frustration grow.

They finally made it to the tower and walked inside and headed to the mission assignment desk, which happened to be manned by Iruka, who smiled as he saw the duo approach. "Well, well, I was wondering when you two would show up. Lucky that it happened while I was here."

Anko just rolled her eyes as she had told Iruka the day before that she was going to take Naruto to get a mission that day. "Well, come on then. Let's get on with the show." Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Of course, of course," Iruka said with a laugh as he grabbed several scrolls marked with a D. "So, for D-Ranks, we have walking the dogs at the Inuzuka compound, painting a fence in the Uchiha sector, and then there…"

"No need for those, Iruka. We're looking for a decent C-Rank to start with," Anko told him with a negligent wave of her hand.

Iruka's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Are you insane? There are D-Ranks for a reason, Anko! Naruto's not ready for C-Ranks yet, he needs to grow in experience before he is ready for that."

"He's my apprentice, Iruka, not yours. I know his true skills, not what he showed you in the Academy. Besides, no apprentice of mine will be walking dogs and picking up groceries for lazy villagers that don't want to do it themselves," Anko snapped at the other man.

Iruka leaned back in the face of Anko's anger. He also knew that she was right, though he was still protective of the boy. He sighed and put the scrolls back and grabbed a scroll with a C on it. "Very well, we received a request from a village in northern Fire Country that have been having bandit problems. Are you sure that you two are ready for this?"

Anko looked down at Naruto who looked up at her with a hopeful look before turning back to Iruka. "Yeah, we'll take it. It'll be something good to properly cut the brat's teeth on."

Iruka let out a resigned sigh and handed over the scroll to Anko, who took it and tucked into her jacket before nodding at him and turning to leave. Naruto smiled at Iruka and gave him a slight bow. "Don't worry, Iruka-sensei, it'll be alright, trust me."

Iruka chuckled and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Just be careful, alright, Naruto?"

Naruto smirked and shot him a thumbs up before running after Anko, who was waiting impatiently at the entrance, tapping her foot with her arms crossed. "Come on, Anko-sensei, let's get going!"

"Did you pack everything you need?" Anko asked as they headed off.

"What? Uh, no. I had no idea this was happening so all I have is my basic gear, along with my quiver and bow," he replied as he stopped to stare at her back.

"Alright then, let's get on the road. Anything you need you can either pick up later or forage along the way," Anko told him with a smirk as she headed towards the north gate to the village. _"Teach him to mess with my dango."_

XxXxXxX

The two of them had been traveling for several days before they had anything unusual happen. Naruto stopped in the middle of the road, the kunai he had been holding in the air with his telekinesis dropping a few inches before steadying. He looked to Anko, who had kept traveling before realizing that he wasn't keeping pace with her.

"Anko-sensei, I hear thoughts coming from over there," he said softly, pointing subtly with his head off to the right. "Old man, hurt…about 100 yards or so into the trees."

Anko crossed her arms under her bust as she considered the situation. While technically it wasn't their problem, they were starting to come up on the area that had been reported with bandit activity, which was part of the contract that they had been assigned. Coming to a decision, she looked to Naruto, who simpily nodded his head in acceptance, having followed her thoughts as they crossed her mind. He snatched the kunai from the air and put it away.

"Go on, brat," she told him with a wry grin.

Naruto shrugged and headed off into the forest, slipping around the trees with nary a sound, putting in practice some of the advice that Anko had been giving him, though he was naturally pretty stealthy. The two of them quickly made their way through the trees and came across an old man, Naruto would have guessed his age to be late 60's or so, collapsed on the ground, with several wounds littering his body. His wrists looked as if they had been rubbed raw, possibly from being restrained with ropes and struggling against them.

Naruto carefully rolled the man onto his back and started treating his wounds with some bandages he had in his pack, basic supplies he kept with him for emergencies. As he did, the old man started coming around, having been almost unconscious before.

"You…what…" the old man said feebly as he started to struggle weakly.

"Relax, old man, we're here to help you," Naruto said soothingly.

The old man surged forward, surprising them with the sudden movement, and he grabbed hold of Naruto's jacket with surprising strength. "No, you have to help my granddaughter, please! They have her, she's all I have left. Please, you have to help her!"

Naruto focused on the man and looked into his thoughts, seeing a small girl about ten years of age being taken away by rough looking men, her hands bound, and her mouth gagged. He saw the old man bound in a similar manner and left behind, though not without a beating by the bandits. He had struggled and eventually freed himself and he had tried to follow them but had eventually collapsed where they had found him.

Naruto pulled himself out of the man's thoughts, though he now knew his name was Gendai, and realized that Anko had been grilling the man for information as to what had happened, which explained why he had gotten more information than he had expected.

"So, you expect us to believe that some vicious bandits took your granddaughter but left you behind…and alive? Come on, do you think we're that stupid?" Anko asked with a scoff.

"Anko-sensei, can I talk to you?" Naruto said, cutting off Gendai's response.

When Anko shot him a confused look, Naruto motioned over to the side with his head and walked about ten feet away from the old man so that he wouldn't overhear them clearly.

"What is it, brat?" Anko asked curiously as she walked up to him.

"He's telling the truth, I saw it," he told her bluntly. "I think they wanted him to tell others, give the villagers something more to fear or something."

"Hmm, you get anything else out of his head?" Anko asked as she looked back at the old man, who was staring at the ground, tears dripping into the dirt.

"Yeah, saw which way they went. I figure that with them dragging a kid along, they couldn't be too far," Naruto told her with a nod. "Anko-sensei, I think we should go after them. Not just cause it's the right thing to do, but we're close enough to the village that hired us that these are likely the same bandits causing them problems," he said quickly when he saw he open her mouth to say something.

Anko gave him a wry look before letting out a short laugh. "Alright, brat, you have a point there." She looked at him for a minute before making her decision. "We'll go after them and do some scouting. If the bandit group is small enough, we can handle them now. But if there are too many, we'll do some planning before taking them on."

Naruto gave her a bright smile and a quick nod before heading back to Gendai. "Alright, old man, we're gonna go save your granddaughter! You head back to your village and we'll meet you there when we're done."

Anko rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of his head. "Idiot, don't make promises you don't know if you can keep. Look, we'll do our best, but when it comes to these things, shit happens."

Gendai just looked up at them with a hopeful gaze. "Please, just get her back, I beg you."

Anko just waved off his plea and started walking away. Naruto gave the old man his canteen of water and shot him a grin before dashing off after his sensei.

* * *

**A little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I feel this is a decent spot to end the chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be posted, but I'll be writing in my free time, so hopefully it won't be as long of a wait for the next addition.**

**Please read and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome, and usable ideas are greatly appreciated.**


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